UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA    PUBLICATIONS 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA-COLLEGE  OF  AGRICULTURE 

AGRICULTURAL   EXPERIMENT  STATION 


EXPERIMENTS  WITH 

DECIDUOUS  FRUITS 

AT  AND  NEAR  THE  SOUTHERN  COAST  RANGE  SUB-STATIONV 
PASO  ROBLES,   FROM  1889  TO  1902 

By  CHARLES  HOWARD  SHINN 

Inspector  of  Experiment  Stations 


STEINBECK    ORCHARD,    NEAR    TEMPLETON 


BULLETIN     NO.    141 


BERKELEY 

THE  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 
June,  1902 


Benjamin  Ide  Wheeler,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  President  of  the  University. 

EXPERIMENT  STATION  STAFF. 

E.  W.  Hilgard,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  Director  and  Chemist. 

E.  J.  Wickson,  M.A.,  Horticulturist. 

W.  A.   Setchell,  Ph.D.,  Botanist. 

R.  H.  Loughridge,  Ph.D.,  Agricultural  Geologist  and  Soil  Physicist.    (Soils,  Alkali.) 

C.  W.  Woodworth,  M.S.,  Entomologist. 

M.  E.  Jaffa,  Ph.B.,  M.S.,  Assistant  Chemist.     (Foods,  Fertilizers.) 

G.  W.  Shaw,  Ph.D.,  Assistant  Chemist.     (Soils,  Sugars.) 

George  E.  Colby,  Ph.B.,  M.S.,  Assistant  Chemist.     (Fruits,  Waters,  Insecticides.) 

Leroy  Anderson,  M.S. A.,  Dairy  Husbandry. 

A.  R.  Ward,  B.S.A.,  D.V.M.,  Veterinarian,  Bacteriologist. 

E.  H.  Twight,  B.Sc,  Diplome  E.A.M.,  Viticulturist. 

J.  Burtt  Davy,  Assistant  Botanist. 

W.  T.  Clarke,  Assistant  Entomologist. 

C.  H.  Shinn,  B.A.,  Inspector  of  Stations. 

C.  A.  Colmore,  B.S.,  Clerk  to  the  Director. 


Emil  Kellner,  Foreman  of  Central  Station  Grounds. 

John  Tuohy,  Patron,  )    gan  Joaquin  Valley  Substation,  Tulare. 

Julius  Forrer,  Foreman,  ) 

R.  C.  Rust,  Patron,  j  Foothm  Substation,  Jackson. 

John  H.  Barber,  Foreman,  ) 

S.  D.  Merk,  Patron,  j  Coagt  Range  Substation,  Paso  Robles. 

J.  H.  Ooley,  Workman  in  charge,  J 

S.  N.  Androus,  Patron,  )  „      ,,  n  ,.„       .     a  ,    ,    ,.         (  Pomona. 

'  '  >  Southern  California  Substation,  < 

J.  W.  Mills,  Foreman,    j  (_  Ontario. 

V.  C.  Richards,  Patron,  j  poregtry  gt  CMeo 

T.  L.  Bohlender,  in  charge,    J 

Roy  Jones,  Patron, 


Wm.  Shutt,  Foreman, 

Bulletins  and  reports  of  this  Station  will  be  sent  free  to  any  citizen  of  the 
State,  upon  application. 


EXPERIMENTS  WITH  DECIDUOUS  FRUITS  AT  AND  NEAR  THE 
SOUTHERN  COAST  RANGE  STATION. 


The  purpose  of  this  bulletin  is  to  give  a  clear  and  exact  account  of 
experiments  conducted  by  the  California  Station  during  a  period  of 
thirteen  years  in  order  to  ascertain  the  possibilities  of  deciduous-fruit 
culture  upon  the  substation  tract  east  of  the  Salinas  River,  near  the 
town  of  Paso  Robles,  and  upon  similar  soils  in  that  and  other  districts 
of  the  Southern  Coast  Range. 

So  far  as  the  Station  and  its  workers  are  concerned,  these  results  are 
practically  final,  excepting  as  otherwise  stated  in  the  following  pages; 
and  those  who  propose  to  plant  orchards  on  similar  soils,  under 
similar  climatic  conditions,  can  take  the  conclusions  reached  in  this 
bulletin  as  those  of  thirteen  years'  experience,  with  much  expenditure 
of  time  and  money,  and  a  very  careful  study  of  a  large  area  of 
contiguous  country. 

The  problem  in  regard  to  orchards  presented  to  an  experimenter 
in  a  given  district  is  always  a  complex  one,  especially  if  that  district, 
while  untried,  is  under  rapid  industrial  improvement.  There  is,  then, 
every  possible  temptation  offered  to  the  community  to  become  very 
enthusiastic  over  all  sorts  of  new  and  promising  crops,  of  which  fruit, 
one  of  the  great  resources  of  old  and  long-settled  regions,  naturally 
receives  immediate  attention.  Orchard  planting  in  such  cases  far 
outruns  the  slow  but  steadj^  efforts  of  the  experimenter,  and  often 
duplicates  his  failures  or  successes  before  he  can  reach,  much  less 
publish,  trustworthy  results.  Meanwhile  the  work  of  the  experimenter 
goes  on,  directed  to  the  ascertainment  of  certain  definite  results.  He 
wishes  to  know  what  fruits  can  be  made  commercially  successful  in 
the  district,  what  fruits  can  be  grown  in  a  small  way  for  family  use, 
and  what  fruits  should  be  entirely  discarded.  He  must  exhaust  his 
utmost  resources  of  horticultural  experience  to  give  these  fruits 
complete  tests  under  different  treatments;  he  must  analyze  the  causes 
of  success  or  failure,  so  as  to  be  able  to  apply  the  results  of  these 
experiments  upon  one  or  several  plots  of  ground  to  much  larger  areas, 
and  thus  to  furnish  a  more  or  less  trustworthy  guide  for  investors  in 
years  to  come. 

It  is  always  best  for  would-be  orchardists  that  the  results  of  a  long 
series  of  investigations  be  stated  with  entire  frankness,  and  exactl}'  as 


they  impress  the  experimenters,  who  have  no  financial  interests 
involved.  If  further  experiments,  in  after  years,  modify  any  adverse 
conclusion,  enlarging"  the  field  of  successful  culture  of  some  of  the 
fruits  herein  named,  it  is  nevertheless  better  that  the  case  against 
them  should  have  been  plainly  and  fully  stated. 

The  planting  of  fruit  trees  on  unsuitable  soils,  or  where  other 
conditions  are  strongly  adverse,  causes  great  economic  loss.  In  the 
end,  the  nurserymen  who  grew  the  trees,  the  local  agents  who  sold 
them,  the  land  owners,  the  land  dealers,  and  the  entire  community 
are  severe  sufferers.  Errors  in  respect  to  annual  crops  are  easily 
remedied,  but  errors  in  regard  to  crops  which  it  requires  several  years 
to  bring  to  bearing  age,  or,  as  in  such  cases  as  the  present,  nearly 
one-third  of  an  average  life-time  to  test  thoroughly,  are  highly 
expensive.  When  a  region  is  rapidly  passing  from  pastoral  to 
agricultural  conditions,  no  foresight  can  prevent  such  mistakes,  for 
time,  patience,  close  observation,  and  carefully  conducted  tests  are 
necessary  to  determine  the  natural  limitations  of  any  district.  When- 
ever those  limitations  have  been  correctly  outlined,  they  must  be 
recognized  and  thereafter  dealt  with  as  accepted  facts,  and  the 
community  must  develop  its  industries  accordingly. 

General  View  of  the  Region. 

One  of  the  most  striking  features  of  the  Southern  Coast  Range  is 
the  broken  chain  of  valleys,  high  plains,  and  passes  that  form  a  line 
of  separation  between  the  western  and  the  eastern  sides.  Along  this 
succession  of  narrow  gateways  and  broader  levels,  the  Missions  of 
Soledad,  San  Antonio,  San  Miguel,  and  San  Luis  Obispo  were  founded 
and  great  Spanish  ranches  came  into  existence;  the  railroad  of  to-day 
follows  much  the  same  route  up  the  Salinas  and  south  to  Lompoc. 

The  country  which  has  been  studied  lies  almost  altogether  east  of 
this  medial  line  along  the  Salinas,  and  occupies  portions  of  San 
Benito,  Monterey,  and  San  Luis  Obispo  counties.  It  is  in  shape  an 
irregular  oval,  nearly  forty  miles  long  by  twenty  wide,  extending 
south-east  and  north-west.  While  extremely  diversified  in  appear- 
ance, rising  into  great  peaks,  spreading  out  into  broad,  rolling  plains, 
or  narrowing  into  winding  canons,  it  has  a  unity  in  soil,  climate,  and 
larger  agricultural  problems  that  is  seldom  found  in  so  large  an  area 
of  hill  country. 

Upon  a  preliminary  survey,  one  may  begin  as  far  north  as  La 
Gloria  Valley  and  the  ridges  about  Cholone  Peak  in  Monterey,  and 
thence  come  south  past  the  wide  channels  of  the  San  Lorenzo  River 
and  past  Slack's  Canon  and  Indian  Valley  in  the  rugged  south-eastern 


corner  of  Monterey,  where  numerous  tributaries  of  the  Estrella  take 
rise.  Such  streams  as  the  Gaviota,  which  reaches  the  Salinas  at  San 
Ardo,  the  lesser  creeks  flowing  west  to  Sargent  and  Bradley,  and  the 
larger  water- courses  of  Indian,  Vineyard,  San  Jacinto,  Ranchito, 
Cholame,  Palo  Prieto,  Antelope,  and  others  are  surprisingly  alike 
in  appearance  and  surroundings.  The  still  larger  Estrella  and  its 
continuation,  San  Juan  Creek  flowing  down  from  the  high  Carisa 
region,  the  winding  Huerhuero,  and  even  the  upper  Salinas  itself, 
extending  upward  past  San  Ardo,  San  Miguel,  Paso  Robles  and  other 
thriving  towns  to  Salsipuedes,  Rinconadas,  and  the  mining  districts, 
are  all  of  the  same  type.  All  are  streams  of  more  or  less  intermittent 
winter  flow;  many  of  them  are  non-periodic,  sometimes  for  several 
seasons  having  no  floods  and  in  summer  disappearing  from  sight. 
Their  beds  are  broad,  sandy  channels,  not  very  different  in  appearance 
from  the  well-known  "washes"  of  Southern  California  streams  but 
comparatively  free  from  pebbles.  Along  these  streams  are  narrow 
bottoms,  then  higher  benches,  sometimes  on  several  levels,  on  which 
irrigation  from  the  streams  is  more  or  less  practicable,  but  the  total 
area  of  these  lands  is  small.  The  valleys  and  rolling  plains  east  of 
the  Salinas,  such  as  Elkhorn,  Carisa,  Cholame,  Estrella,  Huerhuero, 
Avalan,  Long,  Antelope,  Wild  Horse,  and,  away  over  on  the  San 
Joaquin  side,  McClures  and  Kettleman,  include  very  diverse  regions, 
but  are  all  alike  in  having  a  more  or  less  fluctuating  rainfall,  severe 
frosts,  and  soils  which,  though  sometimes  extremely  fertile,  are 
mainly  granitic  sands  and  gravels  derived  from  the  granite  hills  about 
the  heads  of  the  Estrella,  San  Juan,  and  Salinas.  The  brownish  or 
blackish  soils  are  derived  from  the  clays,  clay-stones,  bituminous 
shales,  and  various  associated  rocks  of  this  much- varied  region.  The 
Bradley  plains  on  the  west  side  of  the  Salinas,  north  of  San  Miguel, 
present  much  the  same  features  as  the  eastern  plains,  but  have  a 
better  soil,  derived  from  the  Santa  Lucia  range,  lying  west. 

My  own  observations  of  orchards,  made  at  various  times  for 
twenty-five  years,  have  covered  the  greater  part  of  Monterey  and  San 
Luis  Obispo,  as  well  as  portions  of  San  Benito.  My  closer  studies  in 
recent  years  have  taken  me  as  far  south  as  San  Jose  Valley,  east 
almost  to  La  Panza,  west  to  the  summits  of  the  Santa  Lucias,  north  to 
Kings  City,  and  northeast  to  Slack  Canon.  The  great  ranches  of  the 
past  have  been  subdivided  and  sold.  The  country  is  everywhere  being 
utilized  for  both  pastoral  and  agricultural  purposes.  As  a  whole,  it 
possesses  much  fertile  land,  many  small  but  prosperous  communities, 
and  growing  resources.  The  pioneers  have  now  learned  better  than 
ever  before  the  possibilities  as  well  as  the  limitations  of  their  soils 


and  their  climate.  They  even  find  it  possible  now  to  produce  crops 
with  a  much  smaller  rainfall  than  was  formerly  thought  needful,  and 
they  are  making  homes  upon  lands  once  considered  fit  only  for 
pasturage.  Such  towns  as  Creston,  Cholame,  and  Shandon  have  been 
founded  upon  old  cattle-ranges. 

Soil  of  the  Sub-station. 
Before  the  sub-station  was  established  the  Director  made  an 
examination  of  the  soils  of  the  region  and  more  especially  of  the 
particular  tract  chosen.  This  tract  has  been  mapped  and  described 
in  previous  station  reports.  It  is  therefore  sufficient  to  say  here  that 
it  covers  twenty  acres  lying  in  a  parallelogram  495  feet  wide  and  1720 
feet  long.  The  southern  part  of  the  tract  is  a  light  sand  mixed  with 
white  hornstone,  quartz,  feldspar,  and  claystone  debris  and  containing 
but  a  small  amount  of  clay.  Most  of  this  light  soil  is  underlaid  by  a 
deep  sandy  "hardpan"*  extending  from  a  point  one  to  three  feet  below 
the  surface  downwards  to  a  point  six  to  ten  feet  lower.  Below  the  hard- 
pan  is  a  sandy  soil  sometimes  containing  more  clay  than  the  surface 

*The  hardpan  underlying  the  soils  of  the  station  is  a  grayish  mass  of  coarse  grains 

not  hound  together  by  any  cementing  substance  (except  in  spots  where  there  is  a  calcareous 

cement)  but  formed  into  a  compact  rock-like  mass  by  the  peculiar  u-edge-shape  structure 

of  the  individual  grains.     It  is  therefore  a  mechanical  instead  of  a  cement  hardpan.     A 

mechanical  analysis  of  a  part  taken  from  the  third  foot  of  the  hardpan  column  shows  the 

following  percentages  of  fine  and  coarse  grains : 

Physical  Composition  of  Hardpan. 

B/nZelfl  Material.  Per  cut. 

of  grains. 

2.  mm.  Very  coarse  grits 6.9 

2.— 1.  "  Coarse  grits 12.0 

1.— 0.5  "  Medium  grits 13.5 

.50— .30  "  Very  coarse  sand 7.5 

.30— .16  "  Coarse  sand 13.8 

.16— .12  "  Medium  sand 5.1 

.12— .072  "  Fine  sand 4.9 

.072-. 047  "  Coarse  silt 6.5 

.047— .036  "  Coarse  silt 8.1 

.036— .025  "  Medium  silt _ 4.8 

.025— .016  "  Fine  silt 0.8 

.016— .0023     "  Finest  silt 9.8 

.0023—  "  Colloidal  clay 5.8 

99.5 
The  percentage  of  the  coarse  material  is  very  large,  while  that  of  clay  and  fine  silts  is 
very  small.  There  would  seem  to  be  an  amount  of  the  latter  just  sufficient  to  fill  the  spaces 
between  the  large  grains  and  aid  in  the  firming  of  the  mass,  rendering  it  practically  imper- 
vious to  water;  and  wherever  it  underlies  stream  beds,  dangerous  wet  quicksands  remain 
till  late  in  the  season.  The  hardpan  yields  readily  to  water,  i,e.,  when  a  detached  lump 
above  ground  is  wetted  it  quickly  falls  apart  as  a  mushy  mass;  but  in  situ,  when  water 
is  applied  to  it,  while  it  softens  gradually  it  again  becomes  firm  and  compact  on  drying 
because  of  the  undisturbed  position  of  its  component  grains.  Even  when  shattered  by 
blasting,  if  the  fragments  are  allowed  to  remain  in  the  hole,  they  again  in  the  course  of 
time  become  as  firmly  compacted  as  before,  thus  showing  that  this  is  not  a  cemented  hard- 
pan.     Hence  it  was  not  recognized  as  a  serious  obstacale. — R.  H.  L. 


soil,  but  sometimes  gravelly.  The  back  portion  of  the  tract  is  mostly 
a  gray,  silty  soil  mingled  with  a  good  deal  of  clay,  and  in  portions 
underlaid  by  black  adobe,  breaking  in  places  into  the  well-known  "hog- 
wallow"  or  uneven  surface  common  in  this  region.  Between  these  soils 
and  the  sandy  hardpan  is  a  swale,  or  depression  across  the  tract,  where 
the  soil  is  a  fine  silt  with  little  clay,  baking  hard  in  summer,  and  boggy 
in  winter.  Sandy  hardpan,  gray  and  heavier,  brown  and  black  adobe 
soil,  and  fine-silted  swale-soil  are  all  remarkably  characteristic  of  a 
great  deal  of  the  region  east  of  the  Salinas. 

The  table  on  the  following  page  gives  the  analyses  of  the  soils  repre- 
sented on  or  near  the  sub-station  tract,  taken  to  a  depth  of  one  foot. 

The  Director,  in  discussing  these  soils,  in  1889,  drew  attention  to 
the  low  moisture  absorption  in  No.  1147,  to  the  small  supply  of  humus 
and  lack  of  iron  in  No.  1126,  to  the  necessity  of  drainage  and  good 
tilth  of  the  swale  soils  (whose  value  is  on  many  farms  much  neglected) , 
to  the  very  high  contents  of  lime,  potash,  humus,  and  phosphoric 
acid  in  the  black  adobe,  and  to  the  lesser  value  of  the  brown  adobe. 
The  actual  use  of  these  soils  since  1889  has  amply  borne  out  these 
deductions. 

History  of  Orchard  to  1894. 

Beginning  work. — In  the  spring  of  1889  about  four  hundred  varie- 
ties of  deciduous  fruits  were  planted,  including  nuts.  The  list  was 
largely  made  up  from  those  kinds  most  successful  in  Alameda  and 
Santa  Clara  counties.  The  trees  were  cut  to  three  feet,  to  allow  for 
future  trunks  of  eighteen  inches.  The  collection  was  as  follows: 
Apples,  90  varieties;  cherries,  38  varieties;  pears,  65  varieties,  besides 
some  seedlings  and  Japanese  stocks;  plums  and  prunes,  70  varieties; 
peaches  and  nectarines,  70  varieties;  almonds,  10  varieties;  apricots, 
20  varieties;  quinces,  7  varieties;  walnuts,  pecans  and  filberts,  14 
varieties;  besides  the  preceding,  figs,  olives,  Japanese  persimmons, 
and  mulberries  were  planted.  Nearly  all  of  these  trees  made  a  fair 
start;  the  apples,  cherries,  and  peaches  did  best.  The  plums  did 
poorly.  All  the  trees  grew  best  on  the  granitic,  sandy  soil,  as  it  was 
new  and  the  roots  had  not  yet  reached  the  hardpan. 

From  1889  to  1894. — During  the  four  years  to  the  winter  of  1893-94 
much  of  this  orchard  gave  promise  of  being  of  considerable  value.  The 
trees  were  growing  very  well  in  most  cases,  the  roots  had  not  reached 
the  hardpan,  the  rainfall  was  fairly  good;  the  orchard  had  not  yet 
reached  the  point  of  greatest  stress.  The  difficulties  were  chiefly  due 
to  sunburn,  against  which  the  trunks  were  protected  by  wraps  and 
shakes;  to  the  flat-head  borers  (Dicera  divaricata) ,  hundreds  ofiwhich 


t> 

<D 

co 

rO 

CO 

o      o 

t- 

r^            T* 

/- — * — , 

rown  a 
No.  11 

CM 

at 

OS     CO 

OXCS^-HHOCOX" 

l> 

CO 

h  h   «      :   <* 

IC 

* 

co  o 

fr-     H     O     O     O     CO     i— 1     o     o 

® 

■*    Cl    O       :    ^h 

CO*- 

tc 

i^  d 

'      H      H           '      TjH      d 

^ 

o 

\      _H 

1—1 

X 

lO     CI 

o 

i      rH 

PQ 

CO 

CO 

o      •  CO 

CO 

•73    !=!   <*> 

I *~— s 

*  •£  ""' 

o 

c 

CO     HO 

t>    ^    t»    CO    iC    CO    OS    tH    t>    W 

in 

t^ 

ifl    i-    irt       :    ci 

%d  »h 

o 

c 

) 

•<&   a 

L-OC500^05r^OC< 

c 

CJ 

Cl     -HH     O 

3go 

d 

z 

> 

d   t> 

d   ^      "   d   d                re 

m 

d 

i   d 

CI 

f 

>  ' 

lO       T— 1 

o 

^H 

•'     i-H 

PQ 

t— 1 

CO 

^ 

d 

02        3 

GS    CI 

o   l-   i-i   »c   -+   co   o   eo   i-h 

c 

CO 

CO    X 

:   co 

©           -H 

CO 

t> 

l>    iO 

COCIt^tJiOCIXOO 

CO 

i-H      C^l 

:   tH 

Swal 
No. 

d 

Tt 

rH    X 

eo  ci 

c 

d 

,h"     ,_J 

:    d 

" 

X 

) 

X 

o 

: 

Ifi 

<* 

o 

id 

w      d 

C5 

>■»        (N 

+3         i—i 

QD    OS 

O     lO    CO    CM    CO     X    CO    CI     o 

IO 

io  cd   n      :   o 

r3      r_| 

LO 

If 

<N     rH 

t^cocicoococso© 

X 

:-. 

iO   x   o       ;   iO 

QD 

d 

a 

l^   d 

i-H     CI 

,_ 

d 

:    ^ 

6 

CO 

l- 

X 

o 

%     * 

t-i 

O 

os 

!© 

nite  on 
rdpan. 
.  1147. 

d 

OS 

<M    t- 

MH^^^MTfhM 

- 

OS 

co   d 

i    "* 

ira 

>r 

r-H    lC 

cocococooxt^oo 

CJ 

co   i> 

:  x 

d 

c 

d   d 

CO      -—I 

c 

d 

!     rH 

TO     Bj     O 

CO 

tc 

; 

X 

o 

fi^fc 

i— i 

© 

+j 

CD 

a 

fSj 

.2 

t° 

^s 

k; 

a 

b 

<» 

« 

nc 

s 

s 

-t- 

o 

IO 

f? 

:    a) 

2 

tS 

i       © 

o 

:    cc 

:      0; 

X 

:    u 

!       P  — 

A 

DO 

©       • 

:     P 

tj 

e 

'5 

C 
D 

,     i    o?« 

[3 

^ 

l   I 

1  -1  3 
.2   *   § 

3       i 

£ 

i    2  rH 

c3 

rC 

^ 

i    2  ^ 

'  ^    o 

O 

2 

:     °  J! 

03     '^  ? 

a 

03 

o 

c 
c 

DQ 

d 
'o 

a 

o 
Ph 

=8     2 

c<3     o 
"to 

P    o 
be 

C3       t" 

"S 

c 

a 
Ph 

c3 

P 

"i 

5 

^H     ,P 
S       £ 

Oh   CC 

2 

'5 

c 
c5 

P 

o 

EH 

QQ 

P 

2   o 

P    a 

'5 
> 
< 

r-l          CO 

r*" 

r- 

c 

CD 

were  destroyed  by  a  sharp  wire  or  cut  from  the  trunks ;  and  to  gummosis 
which  in  a  few  years  showed  on  the  cherries  and  plums. 

Apples. — In  1890  these  grew  well.  In  1891  a  few  kinds  began  to 
bear  fruit  of  good  quality,  and  the  apple  was  considered  at  home  here. 
In  1892  and  1893  some  trees  showed  stunted  growth  (i.  e.  had  reached 
hardpan).  By  1893  some  root-knot  showed  on  a  number  of  trees. 
Those  apples  which  were  five  years  old  in  a  few  cases  covered  a  circle 
of  seven  feet  in  diameter  with  their  branches  and  were  seven  or  eight 
feet  high. 

Pears. — In  1891  an  avenue  of  pears  was  planted  where  the  figs  had 
failed  on  account  of  frost.  The  pears  grew  very  well  on  the  heavier 
soils.  By  1893,  the  largest  pear  trees  were  over  ten  feet  high  and  each 
covered  a  circle  of  seven  feet  in  diameter.  There  were  eighty-six 
grafted  trees  (60  varieties)  and  twenty-five  Japanese  seedlings.  Pears 
on  the  granitic  soil  were  poor. 

Almonds. — These  made  excellent  growth  during  these  four  years, 
considering  the  soil.  In  1891  five  varieties  bore;  three  were  frosted. 
Other  almond  crops  along  the  Salinas  escaped.  There  were  well- 
founded  hopes  of  developing  an  almond  industry,  particularly  in  the 
Santa  Lucia  range  west  of  the  river.  In  1892  and  1893  the  almonds 
bore  well,  excepting  Commercial,  which  was  frosted.  The  heaviest 
crop  was  ten  pounds  per  tree.  The  quality  of  the  nuts  was  excellent. 
Ten  varieties  were  in  bearing  by  1893. 

Cherries. — The  growth  of  these  trees  was  weaker  by  1890,  and  by 
1891  the  trunks  of  the  trees  were  badly  cracked  by  sun-burn.  By  1892 
it  was  evident  that  the  extreme  dryness  of  the  atmosphere  and  the  light 
rainfall  rendered  this  district  unfit  for  the  cherry.  In  1893  the  largest 
tree  was  seven  feet  in  spread  of  branches,  but  most  of  them  (then  over 
four  years  planted)  were  but  five  feet  across.  Forty-one  varieties  were 
represented,  eight  of  which  bore  in  1893.  The  crops  were  small  and  the 
trees  unhealthy. 

Apricots. — In  1890,  these  trees  continued  to  thrive  better  on  the 
light  granitic  than  on  the  heavier  soils.  They  died  in  many  cases  in 
the  swale.  The  plum  stock  proved  poor  and  stunted;  the  apricot 
stock  was  better.  In  1891  very  uneven  growth  of  all  the  apricots  was 
noted  and  some  branches  died  back.  By  1893  the  largest  tree  spread 
over  a  circle  of  ten  feet  in  diameter.  The  trees  on  hardpan  had  begun 
to  suffer  seriously.  Eight  of  the  eleven  varieties  of  bearing  age  first 
yielded  small  crops  in  1893. 

Peaches  and  Nectarines. — In  1890  some  trees  bore  fruit.  Those  on 
plum  stock  were  stunted  and  poor.  In  1891  forty  varieties  bore  from 
one  to  fifty  pounds  of  excellent  fruit  per  tree.     Twenty-one  varieties 


01 

had  their  blossoms  frosted.  There  were  heavy  frosts  in  January, 
February,  March,  and  April.  The  prospects  for  successful  peach  and 
nectarine  culture  appeared  very  bright  in  1892-4,  when  out  of  seventy- 
three  varieties  of  peach  and  nine  of  nectarines,  nearly  all  bore  crops 
ranging  from  eight  to  100  pounds  per  tree.  Thirty  seedlings  were  also 
coming  into  bearing.  The  blossoming  and  ripening  periods  of  the 
different  varieties  of  peaches  and  nectarines  showed  very  considerable 
variations  from  the  normal  times  in  other  districts,  and  in  relation  to 
each  other.  As  the  roots,  about  1893,  began  to  reach  hardpan,  the 
blossom  periods  and  ripening  periods  of  all  these  stone  fruits  became 
irregular  and  abnormal.  This  was  more  noticeable  with  these  fruits 
than  with  plums  or  cherries,  apples  or  pears. 

Plums  and  Prunes. — The  growth  of  these  trees  was  greatly  improved 
in  1890  by  the  partial  draining  of  the  swale.  The  Japanese  plums  did 
well,  Botan  doing  best,  but  all  promising  success.  In  1892  and  1893 
the  plums  on  hardpan  began  to  fail.  The  yield  per  tree  on  better 
soil  was  from  six  to  forty  pounds.  The  European  plums  began  to 
bear  quite  well,  but  the  Japanese  varieties  continued  to  be  valuable. 
The  prunes  did  but  poorly.  The  best  five  varieties  of  plums  were 
Botan,  Burbank,  Kelsey,  Imperial  Gage,  and  Rivers'  Early  Prolific. 
Five-year-old-trees  covered  a  circle  of  six  feet  in  diameter.  Myrobalan 
seedlings  were  eight  feet  across. 

Quinces. — The  quinces  suffered  much  from  the  dry  atmosphere  and 
the  poor  soil,  and  had  nearly  ceased  growth  by  1893.  The  few  fruits 
borne  were  very  small  and  worthless. 

Figs. — In  1890  the  figs  were  badly  frozen  in  the  swale,  but  trees 
higher  up  escaped.  In  1891  and  1892  the  trees  were  again  frozen,  and 
to  the  ground.  A  few  varieties  by  1893  seemed  to  have  recovered 
partially.  Angelique,  Black  Bourjasotte,  and  White  Ischia  bore  some 
fruit  at  the  main-crop  season.  More  figs  were  planted  on  higher 
ground . 

Olives. — The  olives  made  an  excellent  start,  most  varieties  growing 
well  till  the  spring  of  1894.  Atroviolacea  was  particularly  hardy. 
Nevadillo  Blanco  proved  too  tender.  Oblonga,  Rubra,  and  Pendulina 
bore  fruit  in  1892.  It  appeared  evident,  however,  that  with  care  in 
selection  of  varieties  and  location,  the  olive  would  thrive  in  this  dis- 
trict as  the  growth  of  all  the  hardier  sorts  between  1889  and  1893  was 
satisfactory,  considering  the  lightness  of  the  soil. 

Walnuts,  Chestnuts,  Pecans,  etc. — Of  nine  varieties  of  walnuts 
planted  in  1889,  only  three,  and  those  very  poor  specimens,  were  left 
in  1893.  The  collection  of  chestnuts  was  equally  a  failure.  One  pecan 
tree  remained,  but  was  worthless  and  soon  perished. 


11 

A  collection  of  Japanese  persimmons  proved  entirely  nnsuited  to 
this  locality. 

A  large  collection  of  mulberries  was  planted  in  1889  and  nearly  all 
throve  for  a  few  years,  making  strong  trees  covering  circles  fifteen  feet 
in  diameter  by  1893.  Nagasaki  was  the  best  grower,  with  Alba  and 
Russian  nearly  as  good. 

Grapes. — The  large  vineyard,  containing  all  the  leading  varieties 
of  table  and  wine  grapes,  grew  and  bore  quite  well  for  about  three 
years  until  the  roots  reached  hardpan.  Many  small  vineyards  were 
planted  in  the  district,  and  appeared  to  prosper  on  similar  soil.  The 
vineyards  elsewhere  receive  notice  in  subsequent  paragraphs.  So  well 
did  the  vineyard  grow,  and  such  excellent  fruit  did  it  produce  between 
1890  and  1894  that  the  late  Adolph  Sutro,  who  visited  the  sub-station 
in  1893,  regretted  his  failure  to  buy  one  of  the  big  ranches  east  of  the 
river  and  plant  it  all  out  in  wine  grapes. 

Conclusions. — To  sum  up  this  period  of  four  years,  the  sub-station 
had  reason  by  the  winter  of  1893-4  to  believe  that  with  care,  apples, 
pears,  Japanese  and  some  other  plums,  peaches  and  nectarines,  olives 
and  mulberries  as  well  as  grapes  would  succeed  here.  The  temporary 
success  of  the  almond  it  did  not  seem  reasonable  to  expect  would  con- 
tinue, but  hopes  for  the  other  fruits,  together  with  all  the  inferences 
therefrom,  appeared  justifiable. 

Orchard  History,  1894-1900. 

In  the  winter  of  1893-4  the  entire  district  suffered  from  drought. 
The  tree-roots  of  this  particular  orchard  had  now  reached  hardpan 
wherever  such  soil  underlaid  the  surface  within  two  or  three  feet,  and 
had  spread  widely  out  upon  that  hardpan.  The  trees  in  some  cases 
were  also  beginning  to  bear;  in  others  were  approaching  a  full  bear- 
ing age.  The  total  rainfall  at  the  sub-station  from  October,  1893,  to 
July  1st,  1894,  Avas  5.70  inches,  accompanied  in  spring  by  drying 
winds  and  severe  frosts.  The  actual  rainfall  of  value  to  crops,  not 
mere  scattering  showers  in  May  and  June,  was  but  3.68  inches. 
Thorough  cultivation  and  pruning  maintained  the  entire  orchard  alive, 
and  some  growth  was  made. 

From  this  season,  however,  dates  the  beginning  of  the  destruction  of 
that  part  of  this  deciduous  fruit  orchard  which  was  planted  on  the 
granite  soil  underlaid  by  hardpan,  and  the  accompanying  illustrations 
show  clearly  the  nature  and  effect  of  the  root  difficulty.  The  rainfall 
of  1895-6  was  13.14  inches,  but  the  season  was  windy  and  frosty,  so 
that  the  orchard   again  suffered.     In  1896-7  there   was  an  excellent 


12 

season  with  nearly  18  inches  of  rain,  but  1897-98  was  one  of  the  worst 
on  record,  the  rainfall  being  but  4.75,  and  badly  distributed. 

Apples. — Some  growth  was  made  on  one-third  of  the  trees.  No 
fruit  was  yielded  in  1894  or  1898.  The  crop  of  1895  ranged  from  five 
to  sixty  pounds  a  tree  and  27  varieties  bore.  In  1897  and  1899  the 
crop  on  about  as  many  varieties  ranged  from  five  to  forty  pounds  a  tree. 
The  fruit  was  small  and  poor,  and  lacked  juice.  The  apples  now 
showed,  as  had  the  peaches  in  former  years,  great  variations  in  dates 
of  blossoming  and  of  ripening  fruit.  There  were  no  winter  apples  here, 
all  the  late  keepers  of  other  districts  ripening  before  November  1st. 

Pears. — The  holding  power  of  these  trees,  which  were,  however, 
as  a  rule  on  heavier  soil,  was  very  satisfactory.  In  1894  the  Japanese 
seedlings  bore  fruit;  in  1895  eight  European  varieties  bore;  in  1896 
the  crop  was  small,  owing  to  late  frosts;  in  1897,  21  varieties  bore 
from  one  to  fifty  pounds  per  tree;  in  1898  and  subsequent  years  the 
pears  did  very  well.  Many  varieties  showed  remarkable  variations  in 
times  of  ripening  from  those  observed  in  other  parts  of  California. 
The  quality  of  the  pears  grown  on  all  soils  here  was  very  high.  On 
hardpan  the  fruit  was  small  and  knotty,  but  still  of  good  flavor;  on 
the  heavier  soil  of  the  swale  and  beyond,  it  was  of  great  excellence. 
The  largest  tree  was  fourteen  feet  high. 

Almonds. — The  largest  almond  tree,  by  1900,  was  sixteen  feet 
high,  and  ten  feet  in  spread  of  branches,  with  a  trunk  diameter  of 
ten  inches  (variety  IXL;  age  twelve  years) .    The  photograph  (Plate  1) 


t    ">'/(* ' 


PLATE     1 

ALMOND    ORCHARD 


13 


shows  the  almond  orchard  as  it  appeared  in  1900.     Another  photo- 
graph (Plate  2)  shows  the  root  system  of  one  of  the  almonds,  a  twelve- 


PLATE  2 

ALMOND  ROOTS  ON  HARDPAN 


year-old  seedling,  illustrating  the  extent  to  which  even  the  almond 
was  forced  to  grow  on  the  surface.  Yet,  as  the  photograph  shows, 
some  roots  in  the  center  really  succeeded  in  penetrating  the  hardpan. 
These  central  roots  were  unable  to  pierce  clear  through  to  the  substrata, 
but  they  helped  to  maintain  the  tree.  During  this  whole  period — 1894- 
1900 — the  almond  crop  was  practically  a  failure,  owing  to  frosts. 
The  almond  did  not  prove  profitable  anywhere  in  this  district;  many 
orchards,  even  west  of  the  river,  in  the  foot-hills,  were  removed. 

Cherries. — There  was  no  yield  worth  mentioning  during  this 
period.  The  trees  suffered  more  than  ever  from  gummosis.  The  few 
fruits  were  of  excellent  quality.  Mahal ebs  did  little  better  than 
Mazzards,  bearing  more,  but  suffering  as  much  from  the  unsuitable 
soil  and  climate.     The  late  frosts  destroyed  most  of  the  blossoms. 

Apricots. — All  varieties  practically  lost  their  entire  crops  from  the 
late  frosts;  a  few  apricots  ripened  in  1897  and  1899.  The  ordinary 
varieties  of  commerce  are  useless  here,  and  the  only  chance  of  success 
lies  in  the  hardier  but  less  valuable  Russian  and  half- wild  types.  All 
the  apricots  on  hardpan  succumbed. 

A  typical  apricot  tree  on  hardpan  is  shown  in  the  illustration 
(Plate  3).  The  variety  is  Smith's  Triumph,  ten  years  planted,  height 
ten  feet.  This  was  the  best  apricot  tree  on  this  soil.  During  its 
entire  life  it  has  not  yielded  ten  pounds  of  fruit.  The  root  system  of 
an  adjoining  tree  of  the  same  age  and  variety  is  also  shown  (Plate  4) 
and  it  illustrates  the  entire  lack  of  penetrating  power  of  the  roots. 


14 


^':VV 


PLATE    3 

APRICOT    TREE   ON    HARDPAN 


PLATE    4 

ROOT    SYSTEM    OF  APRICOT    ON    HARDPAN 


15 

The  area  of  soil  drawn  upon  by  these  apricot  roots  above  the  hardpan 
was  less  than  475  cubic  feet.  They  seemed  to  lose  their  power  of 
extension  beyond  seven  or  eight  feet  from  the  base  of  the  tree.  In  a 
normal  orchard  with  a  deep  soil  the  roots  of  an  apricot  tree  may 
spread  through  upwards  of  2000  cubic  feet. 

Peaches  and  Nectarines. — All  additions  made  were  of  the  hardier 
sorts.  The  trees  on  hardpan  failed  rapidly  and  the  greater  part  were 
removed.  In  1894,  1896,  1897,  and  1898  the  crop  was  practically 
destroyed  by  frost.  In  1895  forty-one  varieties  bore  well  and  twenty- 
five  lost  their  crops.  There  was  never  much  curl-leaf  here.  The  trees 
on  all  soils  showed  gummosis,  and  much  root-knot.  On  the  hardpan 
they  became  very  unhealthy,  portions  of  the  branches  died  back,  and 
they  blossomed  and  leaved  out  at  irregular  intervals.  The  nectarines 
appeared  to  withstand  adverse  conditions  a  little  longer  than  the 
peaches.  The  best  peaches  as  regards  size  and  quality  were  the  very 
early  half-clings,  such  as  Briggs's  May;  the  later  peaches  lacked  juice 
and  size.  There  was  quite  a  crop  in  1897  of  peaches  and  nectarines. 
The  peach  is  a  very  important  fruit  in  this  district  and  gives  great 
satisfaction  in  many  places  west  of  the  river.  East  of  the  river,  on 
good  soil,  peach  trees  bear  perhaps  two  years  out  of  three,  and  in 
sheltered  locations  may  do  better.  The  accompanying  illustration 
(Plate  5)   of  peaches  and   nectarines  on  hardpan   shows  plainly  the 


PLATE  5 

PEACH  AND  NECTARINE  ORCHARD  ON  HARDPAN 


16 


failure  of  these  trees  under  such  conditions.  Such  trees  were  no 
larger  at  twelve  years  of  age  than  they  had  been  at  three — and  bore  less 
fruit.  They  never  paid  for  cultivation.  The  photograph  of  the  root 
system  (Plate  7,  page  17)  still  further  illustrates  the  trouble.  The 
Sellers'  Cling  in  the  picture  was  cut  back  in  the  drought  year  of  1894 
and  had  to  be  protected  against  sunburn.  All  of  nearly  a  hundred 
peach  and  nectarine  trees  taken  out  showed  trunks  and  rcots  similar 
to  those  of  this  Sellers'  Cling.  The  renewal  of  the  tops  was  very  fair, 
but  many  trees  showed  immense  crown  knots,  as  shown  in  the 
illustration  (Plate  6). 


PLATE  6 
CROWN  KNOT  ON  PEACH 


Plums  and  Prunes. — During  this  period  the  plums  and  prunes, 
which  were  nearly  all  on  hardpan,  failed  badly  and  many  were  taken 
out.  The  late  frosts  destroyed  both  the  European  and  the  Japanese 
plums  in  1894  and  1896,  and  the  Japanese  in  1895  also.     In  1897  and 


17 


18 


1898  the  Japanese  types  again  did  better  than  for  several  years  pre- 
vious. Burbank,  Kelsey,  Botankio,  and  Imperial  Gage  did  very  well. 
The  new  American  plums,  such  as  Milton  and  Hammer,  withstood  the 
late  frosts.     The  Myrobalan  bore  nearly  every  year. 


PLATE    8 

PRUNE    TREE 


19 


The  plum  roots  made  no  more  descent  into  the  hardpan  than  did 
the  peach,  and  suffered  more  from  the  heat  of  the  surface  of  the  soil. 
The  illustrations  of  typical  prunes  are  from  among  the  best  trees, 
except  the  Myrobalan.  Many  of  the  plums  at  twelve  years  of  age 
were  no  larger  than  the  seven-year-old  Petite  prune  d'Agen,  illus- 
trated in  Plate  8.  The  leaves  of  the  plums  fell  from  the  twigs  in  early 
autumn;    in  years  of  greatest  drought  the  trees  lost  half  their  foliage 


lis 


PLATE     9 

OLIVE    TREE 


20 


by  midsummer,  suffering  in  this  respect  more  than  the  peaches,  but 
not  more  than  the  apricots  and  cherries.  Abnormal  developments  of 
numerous  buds  along  the  twigs  especially  marked  the  deterioration  of 
the  plums  and  prunes  on  hardpan  soil. 

Olives. — This  period  saw  the  definite  abandonment  of  olives  as  a 
crop,  new  wood  having  been  much  injured  by  frost  on  all  varieties  for 
four  successive  seasons.  The  Redding  Picholine  bore  small  crops, 
and  Oblonga,  Corregiolo,  and  Praecox  yielded  a  little.  The  trees 
almost  ceased  to  grow,  and  the  crop  evidently  had  no  commercial 
place  in  the  locality. 

One  olive  tree  on  the  sub-station,  Corregiolo,  has  reached  a  height 
of  nine  feet  and  a  spread  of  five,  but  is  not  upon  the  worst  hardpan. 
This  tree  was  two  years  old  when  sent  here  in  1889.  No  other  olive 
on  the  tract  is  more  than  one  half  as  tall,  and  many  are  mere  clumps 
of  frost-bitten  growth.  Corregiolo,  here  illustrated  (Plate  9),  and 
Redding  Picholine  have  been  the  hardiest.  Plate  10  shows  its  root 
system  on  medium  hardpan. 


PLATE     10 

OLIVE    ROOTS    ON    HARDPAN 


Grapes. — Three-fourths  of  the  vineyard  has  been  removed  because 
of  its  ceasing  to  grow  or  to  yield  a  crop  on  the  hardpan  soil.  The 
roots  of  the  grapes,  while  penetrating  a  little,  in  no  case  passed 
through  the  hardpan.     The  vines  were  consequently  stunted,  extremely 


21 

susceptible  to  spring  and  early  winter  frosts,  and  a  mass  of  knots, [as 
shown  in  the  photograph  (Plate  11).     The  fruit  was  small  and  poor. 


PLATE    11 

GRAPE-VINE    KNOTS    ON    HARDPAN 


In  no  cases  did  a  vine  yield  more  than  from  five  to  ten  pounds  of  fruit 
after  1896.  On  the  more  shallow  soils,  crops  of  two  and  three  pounds 
to  the  vine  were  the  average.  Blasting  and  boring  through  the  hard- 
pan  seemed  to  give  some  little  aid  to  the  grape-vine  roots. 

The  vineyard,  left  after  the  removals  of  1900  and  1901,  contains 
nearly  all  the  varieties  originally  planted  and  extends  along  the  eastern 
side  of  the  tract. 

Other  Fruits. — A  few  remaining  figs  that  had  escaped  the  late 
frosts  bore  a  little.  In  1897,  Agen  ripened  fifteen  pounds  September 
25th.  A  few  others  ripened  some  fruits  before  the  early  winter  frosts 
came.     In  1898  the  trees  were  killed  to  the  ground  and  removed. 

Mulberries  in  these  years  usually  lost  the  first  crop  of  leaves,  but 
the  Persian  did  not.  They  continued  to  thrive  on  very  poor  and 
shallow  soil.  Alba,  Lhoo,  and  Nagasaki  bore  large  crops,  and  are 
valuable    for   poultry  or  swine.       The   Persian    bore  well,  and  is  a 


22 

valuable  crop  for  domestic  uses.     Mulberries  ripen  here  ten  days  later 
than  at  Shasta,  which  is  350  miles  further  north. 

Chestnuts,  English  Walnuts  and  Japanese  Persimmons  succumbed. 
A  California  black  walnut  slowly  penetrated  the  hardpan,  held  its 
own  and  continued  healthy. 

Conclusions. 

During  this  period  of  six  years,  to  the  close  of  1900,  it  was  clearly 
shown,  entirely  aside  from  any  soil  question,  that  the  climate  forbids 
the  successful  culture  of  most  deciduous  fruits  at  the  sub- station. 
Pears,  apples,  certain  plums,  a  few  peaches,  and  mulberries  were  all 
that  gave  continued  promise  of  success  here. 

Aside  from  problems  of  climate,  the  granitic  soil,  on  hardpan  or 
otherwise,  was  soon  exhausted  and  needed  more  moisture  than  the 
average  rainfall  to  keep  the  trees  in  health.  The  hardpan  soil  was 
unfit  for  fruit  culture.  In  order  to  remedy  the  difficulty  as  far  as 
possible,  holes  were  bored  through  the  hardpan  beneath  selected 
trees.  Close  to  other  chosen  trees,  holes  were  blasted.  The  extreme 
thickness  of  the  hardpan  militated  against  success  in  these  efforts, 
and  of  fifty  trees  of  all  sorts  of  deciduous  trees  thus  treated,  none, 
when  removed  several  years  later,  showed  growth  down  these  channels. 
The  soil  was  heavily  fertilized  on  a  portion  of  the  orchard;  another 
portion  was  sown  to  European  lupins  for  plowing  under,  but  the 
plants  grew  only  three  or  four  inches  high.  The  only  plant  which 
throve  in  this  orchard  on  hardpan  soil  and  penetrated  the  hardpan 
was  Atriplex  semibaccata  (Australian  salt-bush). 

The  total  number  of  trees  planted  between  1889  and  1897  on 
the  hardpan  part  of  the  orchard,  south  of  the  swale,  including  all 
re-plantings,  had  been  455,  on  about  two  and  a  half  acres  of  ground. 
It  became  necessary  to  remove  for  failure,  because  of  soil  or  climate  or 
both,  360  of  these  trees  by  December,  1898,  leaving  less  than  a  hundred 
scattered  specimens  for  further  studj^. 

Typical  Reports  by  Varieties. 

The  following  brief  tabular  reports  show  the  behavior  of  different 
varieties  of  deciduous  fruits  in  1899  and  1900  and  still  further  empha- 
size the  poor  condition  of  the  orchard  on  the  hardpan  soil. 


23 


Almonds  on  Hardpan. 


Variety.  Year. 

King's  Softshell  1899 

"      "    1900 

I.X.L 1899 

1900 

Prolific 1899 

"        1900 

Pistache 1899 

"        1900 

Texas  Prolific 1899 

"  »      1900 

Bidwell's  Mammoth 1899 

"  »  1900 

Marie  Duprey 1899 

1900 

1899 

1900 


Golden  State. 


Languedoc  1899 

»  1900 


Drake's  Seedling. 


1899 
1900 


First  flower. 
Feb.  19 
Feb.  3 
Feb.  13 
Jan.  26 
no  bloom 
Mar.  2 
Feb.  21 
Feb.  12 
Feb.  27 
Feb.  20 
Feb.  17 
Jan.  26 
Feb.  13 
Jan.  24 
no  bloom 
Feb.  24 
Feb.  24 
Feb.  13 
Feb.  24 
Feb.  12 


First  leaf. 

Feb.  24 
Feb.  15 
Feb.  22 
Feb.  3 
Feb.  27 
Feb.  26 
Mar.  3 
Feb.  28 
Feb.  21 
Feb.  23 
Feb.  20 
Feb.  5 
Feb.  28 
Feb.  18 
Feb.  21 
Feb.  19 
Feb.  24 
Feb.  25 
Feb.  21 
Feb.  20 


Crop  ripe. 
Aug.  4 
Aug.    4 


Aug.  31 


Am't.  in  lbs. 
none 

4 
none 

7 
none 
none 

a  few  nuts 
none 
none 
none 
none 

a  few  nuts 
none 

a  few  nuts 
none 
none 
none 
none 
none 
none 


Crop  of  1899  destroyed  by  frost  of  April  23,  1899. 
Crop  of  1900  destroyed  by  frost  of  April  9  and  10,  1900. 

So  small  an  almond  crop  was  practically  of  no  value,  and  only 
showed  that  a  few  late  flowers  escaped  frost. 

The  following  sixteen  varieties  of  apricot  blossomed  in  1899  and 
1900,  between  March  1st  and  April  20th:  Luizet,  Newcastle,  Peach, 
Turkey,  Moorpark,  Smith's  Triumph,  Orange,  Alberge  de  Montgamet, 
Pringle,  Purple,  Large  Early  Montgamet,  Royal,  Blenheim,  Routier, 
Beauge,  Kaisha.     The  fruit  of  all  was  destroyed  by  frost. 

The  plums  blossomed  variously  from  March  1st  to  April  21st. 
Out  of  thirty-seven  varieties  remaining  on  the  hardpan  soil  in  1899, 
only  Blue  Damson,  Coe's  Golden  Drop,  Oullin's  Golden,  Imperial 
Gage,  Columbia,  and  Kelsey  bore  a  few  plums.  All  were  stunted, 
diseased  and  djdng  trees. 

The  remaining  apples  on  the  hardpan  held  out  longer  than  some 
other  fruits,  as  the  following  table  shows: 

Apples  on  Hardpan. 


Variety.  Year.  First  flower.  First  leaf. 

Keswick  Codlin 1899  Mar.  30  Apr.     4 

»  "       1900  Mar.  28  Mar.  20 

Eng.  Gold.  Russet 1899  Mar.  25  Mar.  12 

"    "     "   1900  Mar.  24  Mar.  10 

Missouri  Pippin 1899  Mar.  30  Apr.     3 

"  "      1900  no  bloom  Mar.  20 

Fall  Pippin 1899  Mar.  25  Mar.  30 

"      1900  Mar.  24  Mar.  12 

Ben  Davis 1899  Mar.  25  Mar.  30 

"     1900  Mar.  20  Mar.  21 


Crop  ripe. 
Aug.     15 


Sept. 

12 

Aug. 

23 

Am't.  in  lbs. 

48 
none 

24 
none 

a  few  apples 
none 

39 
none 

a  few  apples 
none 


24 

Peaches  on  Hard-pan. 
None  of  69  varieties  of  peaches  that  remained  in  1899  and  1900 
bore  at  all,  since  the  April  frosts  destroyed  the  crops  in  both  seasons. 
One  nectarine,  Victoria,  escaped  these  late  frosts  and  bore  fifty-eight 
pounds  of  fruit.  The  bloom  period  of  the  peaches  and  nectarines 
was  from  February  20th  to  the  middle  of  March,  varying  according  to 
variety. 

A  New  Orchard  Planted. 

In  1894  the  old  orchard  of  pears,  apples,  and  other  hardy  fruits 
was  extended  north  from  the  swale  on  the  west  side.  In  1897  a  large 
extension  was  made,  consisting  of  apple  and  pear  trees  which  had 
been  grafted  on  the  best  obtainable  stock  to  all  the  promising  new 
varieties  of  which  scions  could  be  procured.  These  came  from  Europe, 
Canada,  British  Columbia,  Australia,  and  memj  other  places.  Some 
were  seedlings  of  note  collected  in  Oregon  and  California. 

Object  of  this  orchard. — The  three-acre  new  orchard  thus  established 
in  1897  was  expected  to  show  three  things:  (1)  that  upon  this  deep 
soil,  free  from  hardpan,  a  healthy  bearing  orchard  could  be  maintained 
with  proper  cultivation  even  in  this  region  of  fluctuating  rainfall; 
(2)  that  the  quality  of  the  apples  in  particular  was  higher  than  on 
trees  on  the  lighter  soils;  (3)  that  by  careful  selection  of  hardy  fruits, 
much  greater  certainty  of  crops  could  be  secured.  After  four  years' 
experience  with  this  orchard,  all  these  results  appear  in  a  fair  course 
of  attainment.  The  trees  are  healthy;  the  few  that  have  borne  had 
fruit  of  excellent  quality,  and  the  Canadian,  Swedish,  Russian,  and 
Scottish  apples,  as  well  as  nearly  all  the  pears,  promise  hardiness. 

In  addition  to  apples  and  pears,  the  young  orchard  contains  many 
hardy  cherries  and  plums,  but  these  do  not  thrive  as  well  as  the  pome 
fruits,  owing  to  the  extreme  summer  heats.  Quinces  and  medlars 
have  done  very  well  indeed. 

Views  in  the  young  orchard.  One  illustration  (Plate  12)  presented 
shows  a  Beurre  Golden  de  Bilbao  pear,  one  of  several  rows  of  like 
character  on  the  dark  adobe  soil  of  the  northeast  corner  of  the  tract. 
This  would  be  thought  a  good  tree  in  almost  any  orchard.  It  was  one 
year  old  in  nursery  when  removed,  and  had  been  four  years  in  the 
orchard  when  photographed;  head  low,  pruning  severe,  cultivation 
first  class. 

Another  photograph  (Plate  13,  page  26)  shows  a  view  in  the  young 
apple  orchard  of  the  same  age  and  treatment  as  the  pears  above  noted, 
and  other  photographs  show  the  largest  apple  and  pear  trees  (Plate  14, 
page  27)  left  on  the  swale  soil  from  the  original  orchard  planted  in  1889. 
But  the  black  adobe  is  a  better  soil  for  these  fruits  than  is  the  swale. 


25 


^-S^ 


PLATE    12 

PEAR    TREE    ON  ADOBE    SOIL 


26 


w 

U 

eg 
P-    £ 

«    O 

o 

U    « 
H    O 


:Li 


PLATE  14     (See  page  24) 


APPLE    TREE 


PEAR    TREE 


Visits  to  Other  Orchards. 

The  failure  of  so  many  deciduous  fruits  on  the  hardpan  soil  of  the 
southern  end  of  the  station  tract  may  be  said  to  determine  the  entire 
unfitness  of  such  soil  for  tree  culture.  Previous  blasting  and  boring 
where  such  granitic  hardpan  is  so  thick  will  not  avail,  because  in 
the  course  of  time  the  hardpan  is  re-formed.  The  soil  is  entirely 
unsuitable  for  the  growth  of  fruit  trees,  although,  as  the  station 
experience  has  amply  shown,  oaks,  mulberries,  cork-bark  elms,  and  a 
few  other  trees  can  establish  themselves  here. 

But  there  are  localities  in  this  entire  region,  even  east  of  the 
Salinas,  where  no  hardpan  exists,  or  where  it  is  comparatively  shallow 
and  more  easily  penetrated,  in  which  places  orchards  have  done  better. 
Some   of  these    locations   are   less   frostv  than  the   sub-station  tract, 


28 

which  makes  a  great  difference  in  the  growth  of  trees  and  yield  of 
crops. 

The  foreman,  Mr.  J.  H.  Barber,  spent  a  good  deal  of  time  in  1900 
visiting  and  reporting  upon  orchards.  At  various  times,  when  at  the 
sub-station,  I  also  went  to  see  these  orchards  and  examined  the  condi- 
tions which  had  favored  or  hindered  them.  The  result  of  these 
investigations  over  a  wide  area  was  to  confirm  in  the  main  the  experi- 
ence of  the  sub-station  in  respect  to  deciduous  fruits.  It  is  to  be 
noted  that  the  effort  was  made  to  hunt  up  those  persons  who  were 
reputed  to  have  good  orchards  and  vineyards .  No  attempt  was  made 
to  observe  the  utter  and  generally  recognized  failures,  of  which  many 
exist.  The  notes  which  follow  may,  therefore,  be  understood  as 
representing  a  fair  and  full  statement  of  the  best  that  can  be  said  for 
deciduous  fruit  culture  in  this  region  east  of  the  Salinas,  upon  soils 
sometimes  better  than  the  hardpan  but  no  better  than  the  adobe  of 
the  sub-station,  and  sometimes,  but  not  always,  in  less  frosty  locations. 

The  Kilshaw  orchard. — This  place  is  three  miles  east  of  the  sub- 
station, on  a  low  hill  among  rolling  hills,  an  excellent  situation.  The 
granite  soil  has  some  hardpan.  Here  were  planted  in  1893  250 
almonds,  Ne  Plus  Ultra,  I.X.L.  and  Nonpareil,  all  on  peach;  and  250 
French  prunes  on  Myrobalan;  earlier  in  1890  a  mixed  orchard  of 
nearly  500  apricots,  peaches,  plums,  pears,  apples,  olives,  etc.,  was 
planted.  The  trees  have  made  poor  growth,  but  in  1900  appeared 
healthy,  except  some  of  the  older  trees,  which  were  reaching  the  hard- 
pan  or  exhausting  the  soil.  All  the  above  trees  bore  well  for  the  size 
of  the  trees  and  the  lightness  of  the  soil;  frosts  are  not  severe  here. 
The  almonds  were  the  only  profitable  crop.  These  trees  were  wTell 
planted,  20  feet  apart,  well  cultivated,  pruned  and  cared  for. 

The  Farington  Orchard. — This  orchard  is  near  to  Mr.  Kilshaw's. 
One  acre  was  planted  in  1890,  seven  acres  in  1891  and  seven  acres  in 
1892.  All  kinds  of  deciduous  fruits  are  represented.  The  soil  is  a 
light,  sandy  loam  for  the  peaches,  a  good,  strong  adobe  for  the  others; 
no  hardpan  anywhere.     Cultivation  has  been  fairly  good. 

Plums  died;  prunes  do  well  on  adobe;  nectarines  crack  open- 
pears  are  excellent — 700  Bartletts  now  bearing;  apples  do  quite  well; 
almonds  are  not  frosted.  But  the  orchard  does  not  pay,  the  pears 
coming  nearest  to  a  profit.  The  birds  destroy  much  fruit,  and  the 
trees  sunburn.     A  large  part  of  the  orchard  has  been  taken  out. 

Tver  Iverson's  Orchard. — This  quite  noted  place  is  on  the  Estrella 
plains.  One  thousand  French  prunes  were  planted,  also  200  apples, 
in  1892.  The  mixed  orchard  then  planted  has  been  taken  out.  The 
soil  is  a  strong  adobe,  with  a  chalky  gray  sub-soil. 


29 

Mr.  Iverson's  prunes  have  never  paid,  as  the  fruit  is  too  small, 
and  the  hot  weather  sometimes  "cooks  them  on  the  trees."  The 
stock  is  Myrobalan,  but  Mr.  Iverson's  observations  lead  him  to  prefer 
almond,  which  he  thinks  stands  drought  better.  Irrigation  from 
deep  wells,  with  engine,  costs  too  much  for  this  kind  of  an  orchard. 
He  expects  to  take  the  prunes  out  unless  a  very  wet  season  gives 
them  a  start.  The  apples  are  fine,  healthy  trees,  and  large  for  the 
district.  Astrachan,  White  Winter  Pearmain  and  Yellow  Newtown 
Pippin  bore  well  in  1899  and  1900.  "  Quality  was  fair,  but  not  equal  to 
that  of  the  coast  apples"  (that  is,  apples  grown  farther  west,  in  the 
Santa  Lucias,  on  San  Simeon  Creek,  etc.  A  few  trees  of  the  Kelsey 
Plum  (Japanese)  bore  very  well.  One  fig  tree  is  in  bearing.  None 
of  the  above  fruits  paid  expenses,  even  for  the  local  market. 

Mr.  Iverson  planted  2000  grapes  on  this  soil  and  found  them 
profitable.  He  makes  wine  and  sells  table  grapes.  The  Zinfandel 
shows  black-knot;  other  varieties  are  free  from  it.  Cultivation  of 
both  orchard  and  vineyard  is  with  a  weed-cutter;   no  plowing  is  done. 

The  Gordanier  Orchard. — The  well-known  old  orchard  of  Mr. 
Irving  Gordanier  is  beautifully  situated  on  the  south  bank  of  the 
Estrella  River,  between  San  Miguel  and  the  town  of  Estrella.  The 
soil  is  a  sandy  and  gravelly  loam,  with  no  hardpan. 

Twenty-five  acres  were  planted  to  deciduous  fruits  in  1885;  ten  or 
twelve  acres  have  been  grubbed  out,  and  more  will  follow.  The 
leading  fruits  remaining  are  apricots  (Royal  and  Moorpark),  peaches 
(the  leading  commercial  varieties),  apples  (Astrachan,  Bellflower, 
etc.),  pears  (Bartlett,  Winter  Nelis,  etc.),  and  prunes,  French.  The 
plums  and  cherries  were  an  entire  failure.  This  orchard  was  headed 
high  and  the  trunks  suffered  heavily  from  sunburn,  the  cause  of  the 
loss  of  the  cherries  and  plums.  Frost  often  destroys  the  crop;  since 
1895  only  one  good  crop  (excepting  of  pears)  has  been  obtained. 
When  the  trees  were  young  the  crop  was  of  good  size,  but  is  now 
small,  due  to  the  lightness  of  the  soil  and  lack  of  moisture.  Cultiva- 
tion has  been  fair,  all  weeds  being  kept  down  and  the  trees  being 
pruned,  but  nothing  more. 

There  has  been  "no  profit  on  this  orchard  in  any  year."  No  fruit 
has  paid  for  the  labor  and  interest  on  the  cost  of  the  land,  because  of 
"frost,  drought,  and  sunburn." 

Jed.  Mills7 s  Orchard. — This  is  situated  near  the  Gordanier  orchard, 
on  sandy  upland.  Fifteen  acres  of  deciduous  orchard  here  "did  not 
pay,"  and  thirteen  acres  were  grubbed  out.  Late  peaches  do  not 
mature  by  reason  of  the  lack  of  moisture;  early  peaches  do  better; 
prunes  failed.     Pears  have  died  from  leaf- blight.     In  1897,  when  the 


30 

trees  had  been  five  years  planted,  there  was  a  good  crop  of  apricots, 
peaches,  pears,  and  almonds,  but  almonds  are  generally  frosted. 
Culture  was  fair. 

This  orchard  has  been  only  a  source  of  expense.  Trees  failed  as 
soon  as  they  began  to  bear,  and  Mr.  Mills  thinks  there  is  nothing  in  fruit 
for  this  region,  excepting  as  a  small  family  orchard  to  which  sufficient 
water  can  be  applied  by  irrigation.  As  there  are  few  such  localities, 
he  practically  discourages  all  orchard  planting.  His  vineyard  of  one 
and  a  half  acres,  set  in  1888,  was  frozen  twice,  but  the  vines 
recovered  and  now  yield  well.  There  is,  however,  no  market  against 
the  shipments  from  outside  grape  districts,  and  "the  only  value  of  a 
vineyard  is  for  home  use." 

The  Proctor  Orchard. — Mr.  G.  E.  Proctor,  two  miles  southeast  of 
San  Miguel,  has  twenty-five  acres  in  fruit,  chiefly  prunes,  but  includ- 
ing all  deciduous  kinds  and  planted  in  1892,  1893  and  1894.  The 
prunes  have  been  "about  a  quarter  crop";  the  almonds  have  suffered 
some  from  frost.  The  whole  orchard  has  been  injured  by  drought, 
and  now  it  receives  little  care;  it  has  proved  unprofitable  and  fruit  is 
too  poor  to  ship  to  any  market.  Some  hardpan  occurs  here.  This 
orchard  was  planted  in  the  very  dry  year  of  1894,  and  is  now  failing. 

Kirkpatrick  Orchard. — This  pioneer  orchard  is  situated  in  Ranchito 
Canon,  east  of  San  Miguel.  Here  Mr.  R.  R.  Kirkpatrick  in  1884 
planted  four  acres  of  orchard  and  vineyard,  and  about  twelve  acres 
more  in  1886,  1887,  and  1892.  The  last  plantation  (of  four  acres)  is 
all  that  remains.  The  soil  is  adobe  with  some  gravel.  Trees  were  set 
twenty-five  feet  apart.  "In  wet  years  crops  were  good".  Frost  has 
caused  partial  but  not  entire  loss.  Growth  of  trees  was  checked  in 
every  dry  year,  and  therefore  the  orchard  did  not  pay  at  all.  At  first 
the  apples  were  very  good,  but  as  the  tree  aged,  the  fruit  became 
small,  dry  and  insipid.  The  same  fact  was  noted  with  peaches, 
apricots,  and  nectarines.  German  prunes  "were  excellent  for  a  few 
croj)s",  then  failed.  English  walnuts  grew  well  only  in  wet  years,  but 
were  often  hurt  by  frost.  A  fig  tree  ten  years  old  bore  every  year. 
Morello  cherries  at  first  grew  very  well;  then  suffered  from  drought 
and  sunburn,  died  back  and  were  grubbed  out. 

The  culture  of  this  orchard  was  excellent  for  some  years.  The 
fruit  "never  began  to  pay  expenses."  This  orchard,  like  the  two  next 
described,  is  in  the  foothills  east  of  San  Miguel,  but  not  on  the 
Estrella  Plain. 

The  Fowler  Orchard. — Here  fifteen  acres  were  planted  in  1884  and 
soon  after,  and  ten  acres  have  been  grubbed  out.  History  of  the  place 
is  much  like  that  of  Kirkpatrick' s.    Nectarines  did  better  than  peaches ; 


31 

"summer  varieties  of  apples  are  good";  all  the  pears  do  well  if  deeply 
cultivated  aud  headed  very  low;  almonds  were  frosted  or  taken  by 
birds.  The  chief  drawback  is  lack  of  moisture,  and  the  orchard 
"does  not  pay  expenses." 

The  Faulkner  Orchard. — Ten  acres  were  planted  in  1886  by  Mrs. 
Faulkner  in  Ranchito  Canon,  and  were  grubbed  out  in  1898  as  unprofit- 
able. Walnuts,  chestnuts,  and  figs  as  well  as  apples,  peaches,  etc., 
were  tried  here.  As  soon  as  the  trees  were  old  enough  to  bear,  they 
died  back.  The  cause  was  drought  and  hardpan.  The  orchard 
received  thorough  cultivation.  Two  thousand  rooted  grape-vines  and 
twenty  thousand  cuttings  were  planted  here  in  March,  1888,  but  were 
killed  by  the  northers  and  drought  of  that  spring. 

The  Malmberg  Orchard. — This  is  in  the  Linne  settlement  near  the 
Huerhuero,  where  a  number  of  hard-working  farmers  have  homes. 
Mr.  E.  Malmberg  planted  about  eight  acres  in  1895,  and  added  some 
olives  in  1897.  The  soil  is  a  sandy  loam  with  chalky  sub-soil,  on  a 
slope.  The  growth  so  far  is  good;  the  trees  are  healthy  and  well 
cared  for.  The  fruit  is  small  (not  well  thinned).  Olives  and  almonds 
so  far  are  not  injured  by  frosts.  Trees  show  need  of  more  moisture. 
Profit  is  very  doubtful.  Three  acres  are  of  muscat  grapes;  but  the 
fruit  was  too  small  and  dry  for  good  raisins,  so  the  vines  were  grubbed 
out. 

Orchards  of  Geneseo  Settlement. — This  is  a  settlement  of  farmers, 
mostly  Germans,  about  five  miles  north  of  Creston.  They  came  here 
about  1885.  There  are  no  cooperative  features,  but  they  have  much 
social  and  religious  unity.  The  Ernst  Brothers  and  others  came  from 
Geneseo,  Illinois — hence  the  name. 

Between  1886  and  1890,  these  farmers  planted  a  number  of  small 
orchards  and  vineyards.  Everyone  was  then  very  hopeful  of  the 
future  of  this  industry.  Droughts,  late  frosts,  and  various  discourage- 
ment have  caused  all  or  nearly  all  to  lessen  their  orchards  materially, 
but  they  have  retained  their  vineyards,  and  a  few  have  been  enlarged. 
The  records  stands  as  follows :  Wm.  Ernst  planted  five  acres  of  orchard 
and  seven  acres  of  grapes ;  took  out  three  acres  of  orchard.  John  Ernst 
planted  ten  acres  of  orchard  and  nine  acres  of  grapes;  took  out  all  his 
orchard.  Martin  Ernst  planted  six  acres  of  orchard  and  ten  acres  of 
vines;  took  out  four  acres  of  orchard.  Mr.  Klaus  (pastor  of  the  little 
Lutheran  congregation)  planted,  on  the  two  acres  of  the  church  prop- 
erty, an  orchard  and  vineyard  which  remain.  G.  Clingworth  planted 
two  acres  of  orchard  and  six  acres  of  vines;  added  four  acres  of  vines. 
Jacob  Timkin  planted  ten  acres  of  orchard  and  four  acres  of  vines; 
took  out  seven  acres  of  orchard.      Charles  Pepmiller  planted  seven 


32 

acres  of  orchard  and  three  acres  of  vines ;  took  out  four  acres  of  orchard, 
J.  Schlegel,  M.  Holziner,  George  Boneker  and  Fred  Hirt  planted  in  all 
thirty- three  acres  of  orchard  and  vineyard,  all  of  which  still  remain. 

A  more  detailed  account  of  several  of  the  above  orchards  and  vine- 
yards was  furnished  by  the  settlers  themselves.  John  Ernst,  whose 
ten  acres  of  prunes,  small  family  orchard  and  ten  acres  of  vines  were 
planted  in  1886  on  the  rich  bottom  land  of  the  Huerhuero  River, 
found  in  a  few  years  that  "the  trees  did  not  pay  expenses."  His  vine- 
yard of  Mataro,  Carignane,  Burger,  Rose  of  Peru,  and  other  varieties, 
is  profitable,  as  he  makes  wine  for  the  local  market. 

David  Paulus  planted  his  orchard  on  light,  sandy  and  gravelly  loam, 
in  1889,  the  same  year  the  station  was  established.  He  replanted 
where  trees  failed  and  regrafted  many  sorts.  His  apples  and  pears 
were  on  heavier  soil  and  have  done  fairly  well.  The  spring  frosts 
have  often  destroyed  the  stone  fruits.  There  is  also  "too  little  rain- 
fall and  the  fruit  is  poor  in  quality  as  well  as  small."  The  orchard 
has  always  been  unprofitable,  though  receiving  excellent  culture.  The 
Burger  grape  is  least  subject  to  frost,  but  suffers  from  mildew. 

Results  at  Geneseo  Settlement. — Mr.  William  Ernst,  who  furnished 
much  assistance  in  collecting  and  revising  the  data  relating  to  this 
interesting  group  of  orchards  and  vineyards,  and  who  is  thoroughly 
familiar  with  the  history  of  them  all,  notes  that,  as  at  the  sub-station, 
deciduous  fruits  of  every  kind  grew  well  for  a  few  years.  The  winters 
were  more  rainy  and  less  frosty  than  some  which  followed,  and  the 
soil  was  new.  The  farmers  felt  much  encouraged  and  thought  they 
had  a  "first  class  fruit  country."  In  1890  four  dollars  profit  was  made 
from  each  early-bearing  peach  tree  in  some  of  these  orchards.  The 
cherries  which  bore  in  1890  and  1891  also  paid  very  well.  Prizes  were 
taken  at  county  fairs  for  peaches,  cherries,  Japanese  plums,  pears, 
and  grapes  grown  in  the  Geneseo  district,  and  this  was  in  competition 
with  Arroyo  Grande,  one  of  the  most  famous  valleys  of  San  Luis 
Obispo  county. 

Then,  as  occurred  at  the  sub-station,  though  the  Geneseo  settlers 
had  a  much  better  soil,  usually  free  from  hardpan,  the  trees  com- 
menced to  fail  in  the  dry  years,  could  not  recover,  were  grubbed  out  by 
the  acre,  and  though  a  few  orchards  have  been  kept,  in  the  hope  for 
better  times,  the  industry  is  practically  abandoned  and  the  remaining 
orchards  are  very  poor.  Mr.  Klingworthy,  whose  location  is  less 
frosty,  retains  one  of  the  best  orchards  here. 

The  local  market  has  proved  almost  worthless,  as  "in  good  seasons 
everyone  has  fruit,  and  in  poor  ones  there  is  none  to  sell."  The  long 
hauls  to  the  railroads  and  high  freights  would  prevent  shipment  of 


33 

fresh  fruit  even  if  it  were  first  rate  in  size  and  quality,  which  it  can 
seldom  be  under  these  conditions.  There  has  not  been  enough  fruit 
to  dry  or  can  successfully  for  market,  and  the  spasmodic  crops  forbid 
investment  in  the  necessary  "plants'7  for  handling  it.  The  farmers 
have  come  to  depend  upon  grain  and  livestock  with  perhaps  a  small 
vineyard  and  a  few  fruit  trees.  No  orchards  aic  being  planted  by  new- 
comers, and  the  few  old  orchards  remaining  are  sadly  neglected.  The 
entire  community  feels  assured  of  the  unprofitableness  of  deciduous 
fruits  here. 

The  feeling  in  regard  to  grapes  is  quite  hopeful.  Considerable 
wine  is  made  for  home  use  and  local  sale.  It  is  in  demand  in  Paso 
Robles  and  other  towns  where  its  use  is  said  to  be  increasing.  The 
grapes  are  high  in  sugar  contents  and  the  vines  bear  every  year,  and 
generally  a  good  crop. 

Orchards  Near  Crestox. 

Experience  of  J .  V.  ^Yeosier. — One  of  the  most  famous  and  best 
kept  of  the  early  orchards  east  of  the  Salinas  was  that  of  the  Hon. 
J.  V.  Webster,  who  deeded  the  land  for  the  sub-station  and  was  for  a 
number  of  years  the  Patron,  or  local  trustee.  Mr.  Webster  planted 
quite  an  orchard  in  1887  on  his  home  place  near  Creston.  The  soil  is 
a  decomposed  granite.  The  orchard  contained  eight  acres  of  apricots, 
and  some  peaches,  apples,  etc.  Trees  grew  well  until  1891;  then  the 
frosts  cut  back  the  apricots  in  spring  and  the  trees  died,  a  few  at  a 
time,  until  all  were  gone.  The  entire  orchard  during  its  whole  life 
"bore  not  more  than  a  bushel  or  two  of  fruit."  Peaches  were  started 
too  high,  so  they  sunburned  and  died.  Frost,  heat  and  drought 
destroyed  them,  and  in  1900  all  remaining  were  grubbed  out.  The 
apples  still  yield  some  fruit. 

Mr.  Webster  was  formerly  a  very  strong  advocate  of  fruit  culture 
in  the  upper  Salinas,  and  more  particularly  in  this  region,  but  he  now 
says,  "A  few  trees  are  all  one  can  afford  to  keep."  His  vineyard  has 
been  more  valuable.  Twelve  acres  planted  in  1887 — Mataro  and 
Carignane  with  some  table  varieties — has  always  borne  well  and  is 
profitable  for  wine.  He  prunes  late,  in  February.  He  says,  "All  the 
decomposed  granite  hills  about  Creston  will  eventually  be  covered  with 
fine  vineyards,  producing  wine  of  first-rate  quality." 

The  Angus  Orchard. — Mr.  E.  Angus,  east  of  Creston,  planted  in 

1891  about  eight  acres  of  apricots,  peaches,  prunes,  apples,  and  pears, 

and  has  now  cut  out  about  one-half.     The  fruit  has  been  profitless. 

Grapes  have  been  satisfactory.     The  soil  is  light,  loose,  and  granitic. 

Tht  Blake  Farm. — This  place  is  situated  in  the  foothills  southeast 


34 

from  Creston,  and  twenty  acres  of  almonds  were  planted  here  in  1889 
— the  largest  almond  orchard  in  the  region.  Since  1894  the  orchard 
has  been  neglected.  It  has  never  paid  a  profit.  The  trees  still  live, 
though  uncultivated  for  several  years.  Frost  generally  kills  the  crop. 
The  Ballard,  Farm. — The  following  statement  made  by  Mr.  E.  B. 
Ballard,  whose  farm  is  three  miles  south  of  Creston,  is  especially 
worth  printing  just  as  it  was  written.  The  energy  and  ability  of  Mr. 
Ballard  are  well  known  in  San  Luis  Obispo  County,  and  if  any  one 
could  make  fruit  culture  a  success  here,  he  would  be  able  to  do  so. 
He  says:  "In  1890  I  planted  a  small  family  orchard  of  about  150 
trees  of  the  best  varieties  of  apples,  pears,  prunes,  plums,  peaches, 
nectarines,  quinces,  cherries,  and  almonds.  The  said  orchard  has  had 
good  cultivation  and  fair  pruning.  The  soil  is  adobe  where  the 
prunes,  apples,  and  pears  are  planted;  the  other  trees  are  on  a  more 
gravelly  soil.  Hardpan  exists  from  two  to  three  or  in  some  cases 
four  feet  from  the  surface.  Fruit  crops  during  the  past  ten  years 
have  been  failures,  with  perhaps  the  exception  of  the  plums,  prunes, 
and  pears  (Bartletts).  Frost  has  generally  been  the  greatest  curse, 
but  if  the  peaches  did  escape  they  could  not  be  beaten  in  flavor.  I 
have  never  tasted  a  cherry,  apricot,  quince,  or  almond  grown  on  the 
place.  I  do  not  think  an  orchard  in  this  locality  profitable  either  as 
an  investment  or  for  family  use,  as  fruit,  when  plentiful  over  the 
State,  can  be  bought  very  cheap,  and  when  a  failure  elsewhere  it  is 
safe  backing  that  this  locality  has  not  escaped." 

Some  Orchards  Near  the  Salinas. 

The  Shackelford  Orchard.— This  very  notable  orchard  is  one  mile 
southeast  of  Paso  Robles,  east  of  the  river,  and  here,  in  1890,  Mr. 
R.  M.  Shackelford  planted  thirty  acres  of  Bartlett  pears,  90  acres  of 
French  prunes,  and  40  acres  of  Redding  Picholine  olives.  The  pears 
were  on  a  light,  sandy  loam,  20  to  40  feet  above  the  bed  of  the  Salinas 
the  prunes  were  on  a  higher  bench,  and  the  olives  on  the  rolling 
uplands.  The  culture  was  excellent  for  a  number  of  years,  but  the 
orchard  "never  paid  expenses,  or  near  it,"  and  has,  naturally,  been 
neglected.  Frost  and  drought  were  the  causes  of  failure.  The  pears 
are  said  to  have  paid  for  themselves,  and  were  the  most  promising  crop. 

The  Van  Elliott  Orchard. — This  is  a  small,  well-kept  orchard  west 
of  the  Salinas,  beside  the  river  and  within  the  town  limits  of  Paso 
Robles.  Ten  acres,  chiefly  prunes,  were  planted  in  1887  and  1890. 
The  soil  is  a  gravelly  bench  land;  some  is  river  bottom.  Cultivation 
was  careful  and  thorough  for  some  time,  but  "spring  frosts  rendered 
the  orchard  unprofitable,"  and  it  has  not  been  pruned  in  recent  years. 
The  trees  are  healthy,  but  small. 


35 

Many  small  family  orchards  have  been  planted  in  years  past  on 
this  low  bench  land,  ten  or  fifteen  feet  above  the  Salinas  or  on  the 
low  hills  near  it,  but  still  west  of  the  river.  Few  of  these  trees 
remain,  and  little  fruit  is  produced.  When  it  escapes  frost  it  finds 
ready  local  sale.  Mr.  Van  Elliott  had  a  few  apricots,  apples,  pears, 
peaches,  but  mostly  prunes.  Experience  shows  that  pear  trees  promise 
better  than  anything  else  here;  large,  healthy  pear  trees  are  often 
seen  in  old  and  neglected  orchards  along  the  Salinas. 

The  Thomas  Orchards. — These  lie  southeast  of  Templeton,  at  the 
Mount  Pleasant  Ranch  and  the  Eureka  Ranch,  and  have  received 
excellent  care.  Mr.  A.  L.  Thomas,  who  is  a  prominent  farmer  of  the 
district,  planted  four  acres  of  almonds  in  1896  which  bore  well  in  1901. 
He  also  has  sixteen  acres  of  prunes,  pears,  and  other  fruits.  On  the 
Eureka  Ranch,  where  he  owns  twenty-five  acres  of  prunes  and  has 
charge  of  forty  more  acres,  there  was  originally  185  acres  of  prunes 
planted  and  sold  with  the  lands  to  colonists.  About  120  acres  are 
still  kept  up.  The  soil  is  granitic,  mostly  rolling  hill;  the  fruit  is 
small  but  very  sweet.  In  the  swales  between  the  hills  the  trees,  of 
course,  grow  much  larger,  and  often  yield  better.  The  crop  is  fre- 
quently destroyed  by  frost.  "None  of  these  prune  orchards  have  been 
profitable  here.     The  hills  are  too  dry  and  the  lowlands  are  too  frosty." 

The  Granger  Orchard,  near  Shandon. — Two  miles  south  of  Shandon, 
east  of  the  Salinas,  Mr.  Granger  began  to  plant  an  orchard  in  1884, 
and  continued  until  he  had  forty  acres  of  deciduous  fruits.  As  at  the 
sub-station,  the  trees  did  well  while  young  and  in  years  of  greater 
rainfall.  But  they  soon  began  to  fail  and  the  orchard  proved  profitless, 
so  that  thirty- five  acres  were  cut  out.  Soil  is  a  sandy  loam  on  a  stiff 
yellow  clay.     Pears  "are  the  only  fruit  that  never  failed." 

The  rainfall  at  this  place  since  1884,  as  kept  by  Mr.  Granger,  shows 
some  striking  features.  In  1884-5  it  was  6.48  inches,  but  the  next 
year  it  was  23.60  inches  and  the  following  year  it  was  below  eight 
inches.  In  the  seventeen  years  between  1884  and  1901  it  twice  fell 
below  four  inches  (in  1893-4  and  1897-8);  it  rose  only  eight  times 
above  ten  inches,  and  in  fact  but  twice  during  the  whole  period  wTas  it 
more  than  14  inches.  This  is  evidently  not  a  country  for  the  successful 
growth  of  fruits  without  irrigation. 

Another  orchard  near  Shandon  is  that  of  Mr.  Shedd.  Here  are  two 
very  large  fig  trees,  32  years  old.  The  orchard  of  three  or  four  acres 
was  mostly  planted  before  1880  and  was  in  bearing  to  some  degree  in 
1884.  Almonds  and  apricots  are  often  destroyed  by  frosts.  Apples 
and  pears  bear,  and  so  do  the  figs — three  crops  a  year.  The  orchard 
and  vineyard  have  received  a  good  deal  of  irrigation  by  means  of  wind- 


36 

mills.  They  were  formerly  profitable,  but  have  been  neglected  in 
recent  years. 

Other  Orchards  east  of  the  Salinas. — Many  orchards  not  previously 
noted  were  looked  up  in  the  course  of  these  investigations.  One  of 
the  numerous  failures  found  unprofitable,  neglected,  and  abandoned 
is  illustrated  on  page  37  (plate  15).  One  often  sees  in  the  corner  of 
some  grain  field  a  few  straggling  fruit  trees  and  vines. 

Some  of  the  orchards  not  previous^  described  were,  however,  of  a 
better  type.  One  of  these  is  that  of  Mr.  A.  J.  Pinkstone,  of  Keyes 
Canon,  north  of  the  Estrella.  This  is  especially  interesting  because 
he  has  succeeded  quite  well  with  almonds.  The  place  is  sheltered  in 
the  canon,  and  there  are  thirteen  acres  in  almonds,  peaches,  apricots, 
figs,  and  walnuts. 

On  the  famous  ranch  of  Santa  Ysabel,  there  is  a  promising  young 
orchard,  planted  on  three  benches  of  land  just  east  of  the  Salinas  in 
1890.  The  soil  is  a  sandy  loam,  the  lowest  bench  is  close  to  the  river, 
and  the  upper,  thirty  feet  above  it,  is  of  more  stony  soil.  "Cherries 
are  dead  or  dying,  almonds,  apricots,  peaches,  etc.,  suffer  from  spring 
frosts.  "The  pears  do  very  well."  This  orchard,  like  its  neighbors, 
has  been  unprofitable. 

A  Few  Successful  Orchards. 

There  are  a  few  places  in  the  districts  which  have  been  described 
where  men  of  unusual  energy  have  done  fairly  well  with  deciduous 
orchards.  The  history  of  these  enterprises  thus,  in  some  degree, 
relieves  the  otherwise  gloomy  records. 

The  Reynolds  Orchard. — This  is  small,  not  over  three  acres.  It  is 
situated  a  mile  east  of  the  sub-station  on  the  Huerhuero,  and  was 
planted  in  1885  and  later.  The  soil  is  a  deep,  alluvial  loam,  and  "it  is 
only  ten  feet  to  water."  Apples,  pears,  peaches,  and  some  other  fruits, 
were  planted.  "All  have  made  good  growth  and  are  healthy,  except- 
ing the  apricots,  which  die  down  and  finally  succumb."  Peaches  bore 
every  other  year  until  1898.  Apples,  pears,  and  prunes  bear 
every  other  year  and  sometimes  a  large  crop.  Cherries  have  failed 
entirely.  Grapes  do  well.  The  late  frosts  are  the  only  drawback  to 
the  orchard  (apricots  and  cherries  excepted).  Mr.  Reynolds  is  able 
to  irrigate  from  the  stream,  with  a  pump,  in  dry  seasons  and 
this,  of  course,  makes  a  great  difference.  But  he  does  not  think  an 
orchard  profitable,  even  in  this  favorable  location. 

The  Corbaley  Orchard. — The  next  example  illustrates  sheer  grit 
under  hard  conditions.  Mr.  J.  B.  Corbaley,  who  lives  on  the  south 
bank  of  the  Estrella,  about  two  miles  southeast  of   San  Miguel,  had 


37 


38 

twenty-five  acres  of  deciduous  fruits  planted  in  1890  and  1892,  and 
took  out  five  .acres  which  did  not  pay.  His  soil  is  upland,  granitic; 
no  irrigation  possible.  Cherries  died;  apricots,  almonds,  and  prunes 
fail  in  some  years.  Peaches,  nectarines,  apples,  and  pears  have  done 
well;  "pears  always  bear."  The  prunes  are  poor,  and  he  will  sub- 
stitute peaches,  Mr.  Corbaley  "prunes  heavily  and  thins  heavily, 
plows  and  cultivates  twelve  times  a  year."  He  says  that  "fruit  pays 
better  than  wheat."  He  grows  melons  and  vegetables  as  well  as  fruit, 
and  finds  a  local  market.  Peaches  and  pears  are  his  most  profitable 
fruits.     "Late  frosts  are  the  greatest  drawback." 

The  Webster  Orchard. — The  illustrations,  pages  39-40,  (plates  16 
and  17)  show  the  advantages  offered  by  the  so-called  "Salinas  bottom" 
on  either  east  or  west  sides  of  the  river,  which  are  too  frosty  for 
many  fruits.  Mr.  G.  Webster,  a  well-known  lawyer  of  Paso  Robles 
and  San  Miguel,  owns  a  farm  half  a  mile  from  the  latter  town.  Here 
he  began  to  plant  trees  in  1893,  and  has  continued  until  his  orchards, 
in  1900,  covered  twenty  five  acres  (pears,  peaches,  apricots,  and 
prunes),  and  he  planted  in  1901  some  1700  Bartlett  trees,  making 
nearly  thirty  acres  altogether  of  this  pear,  his  best  crop. 

All  his  trees  near  the  river  bottom,  a  few  feet  above  the  sandy  bed 
of  the  stream  and  on  a  light,  rich  loam,  have  grown  well;  trees  on 
higher  bench  lands,  twenty  to  forty  feet  above  the  former,  have 
suffered  from  drought.  The  larger  part  of  the  orchard  is  about  fifteen 
feet  from  the  water.  The  culture  consists  of  several  plowings,  and 
late  spring  cultivation.  The  orchard  is  well  pruned.  A  part  of  the 
orchard  has  been  in  bearing  since  1896.  In  1900  everything  "except- 
ing pears"  failed  by  reason  of  frost.  Mr.  Webster,  on  land  just  east 
of  the  river,  "had  only  one  failure  of  the  pear  crop  in  ten  years." 

Peaches  sell  in  the  local  market,  and  are  dried,  but  neither  peaches 
nor  prunes  pay  well.  Apricots  have  not  succeeded.  Pears  are  "much 
the  best  crop  here."  The  Bartlett  pears  grown  by  Mr.  Webster,  as 
well  as  all  pears  produced  in  the  region,  wherever  the  soil  is  suitable 
and  the  moisture  sufficient,  both  east  and  west  of  the  Salinas  and 
north  as  well  as  south  of  San  Miguel,  are  of  unusual  quality  and 
beauty.  Besides,  the  Bartletts  are  very  late,  and  so  find  ready  sale 
at  the  canneries  in  San  Jose  and  elsewhere.  Mr.  Webster's  pears  are 
all  sold  by  contract  at  a  good  price.  He  finds  his  pear  orchard 
profitable,  and  is  extending  it  rapidly. 

The  Steinbeck  Orchard. — There  is  a  noted  orchard  at  Templeton 
(shown  on  first  page)  where  1600  Bartlett  pears  and  a  small  collection 
of  other  fruits,  were  planted  in  1890  on  two  benches,  one  low,  just 
above  the  river,  the  other  higher  and  on  more  gravelly  soil,  underlaid 


39 


CO    n3 

ffl      PI 


3  §1 

w 
o 


40 


PLATE    17 

BARTLETT    PEAR   ORCHARD 
(G.  Webster's  orchard) 

by  siliceous  rock.  The  lower  orchard  is  15  feet  to  water;  the  upper  is  25 
to  30  feet. 

The  apples  failed  in  1900,  but  bore  well  other  years;  "summer 
varieties  do  best."  The  prunes  "bore  only  once,  in  1897."  Peaches 
bear  in  some  years.  But  pears  are  "the  only  profitable  fruit,  and  that 
only  on  the  lower  bench,77  as  in  some  seasons  there  is  not  enough 
moisture  on  the  upland  to  mature  a  crop.  In  1899  the  crop  was  sold 
to  San  Jose  canneries,  delivered  at  the  railroad  station,  for  $42.50  per 
ton,  sizes  two  and  a  half  inches  and  upward.  In  1900  the  price 
obtained,  delivered  in  San  Francisco,  was  $25.00  per  ton,  sizes  two 
and  a  quarter  inches  and  upward. 

In  this  orchard  the  Bartletts  ripen  earlier  than  at  the  sub-station 
and  in  some  other  orchards.  In  1897,  fruit  was  shipped  before 
August  12th;  in  1898  from  August  18th  to  September  5th;  in  1899 
from  August   21st  to   September   1st;   in   1900  August   30th.     Bart- 


41 

letts  of  large  size  and  high  quality  are  grown  at  the  sub- station 
on  the  adobe  soil,  and,  of  course,  without  irrigation,  ripening 
in  mid-autumn.  Picked  September  29,  1897,  they  were  fit  for 
table  use  October  7th.  The  highest-priced  Bartletts  grown  in  this 
entire  region  will  be  such  late  fruit  as  this,  produced  on  heavy  soils 
in  the  hills,  not  always  necessarily  on  the  river  bottoms.  The 
experience,  however,  of  Mr.  Steinbeck,  Mr.  Webster,  Mr.  Reynolds, 
and  others  shows  the  road  to  commercial  success  on  lands  near  the 
streams,  whether  the  fruit  be  late  or  early. 

The  Nelson  Orchard. — In  order  to  show  the  conditions  which  pre- 
vail in  the  foothills  east  of  the  Salinas,  though  only  a  few  miles  dis- 
tant, the  orchard  of  Andrew  Nelson,  two  miles  northwest  of  Paso  Robles 
was  examined  (page  42,  plate  18).  Here  are  twenty  acres  of  mixed 
orchard,  on  a  black  loam  underlaid  by  bituminous  shale,  and  in  places 
by  limestone.  Some  of  it  is  an  ashy  adobe.  All  is  on  rather  steep 
slopes.  The  fruits  growing  here  are  almonds,  nectarines,  plums, 
prunes,  apples,  pears,  figs,  and  oranges  (which  last  were  never 
injured  by  frost).  Part  of  the  trees  were  planted  in  1890  and  part 
in  1897.  There  has  never  been  a  failure  of  the  fruit  crop  at  this 
place;  the  trees  grow  well,  though  not  large,  and  appear  healthy. 
Mr.  Nelson  finds  "fruit  growing  profitable  for  the  local  market," 
especially  "when  the  late  spring  frosts  destroy  the  crops  in  the  valley 
and  east  of  the  river." 

History  of  Fruit- Growing  in  this  Region. 

In  the  light  of  these  notes,  (1)  from  the  sub-station  between  1889 
and  1902,  (2)  from  the  actual  experience  of  those  land-owners  in  the 
region  who  have  made  the  most  strenuous,  and,  on  the  whole,  the 
most  successful  efforts  to  grow  fruit,  a  brief  account  of  the  earlier 
history  of  the  industry  here  tends  to  cast  light  upon  its  probable 
future.  My  authorities  are  the  files  of  the  early  newspapers,  my  own 
observations,  and  the  testimony  of  nurserymen  and  their  agents,  also 
the  evidence  of  all  the  farmers  interviewed. 

Settling  Eastern  San  Luis  Obispo. — The  story  is  one  of  a  great 
and  praiseworthy  awakening  of  an  entire  community.  Many  of  the 
investments  then  made  were  poor  or  worthless,  but  there  was  very 
little  deliberate  fraud.  All  men  believed  in  this  new,  rich,  beautiful 
region;  those  who  have  suffered  most  are  still  believers  in  the  future 
of  eastern  San  Luis  Obispo  and  southeastern  Monterey.  Its  story  lias 
been  told  with  great  force,  skill,  and  truthfulness  by  Mr.  Vachell, 
the  novelist,  in  his  "The  Profession  of  Life,"  whose  "Clumville"  is 
Creston. 


42 


H    a 


43 

Turning  back  to  1879,  ten  years  before  the  sub-station  was  under 
way,  a  speculator  of  Napoleonic  energy,  C.  H.  Phillips,  was  breaking 
up  the  old  Spanish  ranches  with  every  prospect  of  establishing  upon 
them  thousands  of  prosperous  homes.  His  pamphlets  said,  "Paso 
Robles  Rancho,  26,000  acres,  adapted  to  wheat  and  grazing;  Santa 
Ysabel  Rancho,  23,000  acres,  well  watered,  large  amount  of  timber 
(oak);  Eureka  Rancho,  25,640  acres;  Asuncion,  Atascadero,  and 
Santa  Margarita  ranches,  in  all  60,000  acres,  and  the  Huerhuero 
Rancho  of  43,000  acres."  In  addition  to  these  were  many  smaller 
ranches  east  of  the  Salinas,  and  a  great  deal  of  government  land. 
Incidentally,  stress  was  laid  upon  the  value  of  much  of  these  lands  for 
fruit  growing,  but  cattle  and  the  cereals  were  undoubtedly  considered 
the  main  resource,  and  "wheat  was  king." 

Views  of  the  Pioneers  respecting  Climate. — The  climate,  broadly 
speaking,  was  very  attractive  to  many  persons,  and  the  country  was 
and  is  strikingly  beautiful  with  its  rolling  hills  and  oak  forests. 
Rainfall,  as  far  as  could  be  ascertained,  though  sometimes  short, 
seemed  as  a  rule  sufficient  for  wheat.  The  few  American  pioneers 
gave  about  the  following  account:  1861,  "very  wet";  1862,  a  "good 
grass  year;"  1863,  "very  dry":  1864-68,  "fair  average  rains";  1870, 
"dry";  1871-74,  "good  medium  years";  1875,  "very  wet";  1876,  "dry 
and  cold";  1877,  "a  wet  year";  1878,  an  average  season;  1879,  "wet 
and  warm."  With  such  reports  it  is  no  wonder  that  the  literature  of 
the  period  spoke  of  the  upper  Salinas  as  another  Santa  Clara  of  the 
north,  and  predicted  that  "cities  like  San  Jose  would  spring  up  along 
its  course  and  that  of  its  tributaries."  Accurate  observations  of 
its  rainfall  and  temperature  would  in  all  probability  show  that  the 
climate  had  not  noticeably  changed  during  a  half  century.  Myron 
Angel's  "History  of  San  Luis  Obispo  County,"  published  in  1883,  says 
of  San  Miguel,  "The  lack  of  water  is  most  pronounced  and  effectually 
debars  the  cultivation  of  most  agricultural  products  save  in  excep- 
tional years,"  and  he  mentions  in  1878  a  "cold  spell"  of  16°  Fahr. 
As  for  the  Estrella  region,  he  speaks  of  droughts  as  occurring  "two 
years  in  five,"  and,  as  this  was  from  the  standpoint  of  wheat  culture, 
it  would  measurably  agree  with  conditions  during  two  decades  since. 

Early  Faith  in  Orchards. — Some  tree  planting  had  been  done  in 
the  Santa  Lucia  Mountains,  in  the  Summit  School  district,  as  early 
as  1870  I  sold  trees  myself  to  the  pioneers  there,  and  some  are  still 
bearing  fruit.  Tree  planting  in  the  valley  followed  fast  upon  the 
extension  of  the  railroad,  the  laying  out  of  Templeton,  and  the  sale 
of  lands  east  of  the  Salinas.  In  1888  the  Paso  Robles  Leader  said, 
referring  to  the  immense  region  east  of  the  Santa  Lucia  Mountains, 


44 

some  1,100,000  acres,  "two-thirds  of  which  was  vacant,  held  for 
speculation  or  occupied  for  grazing",  that  "throughout  this  region, 
wherever  tried,  fruit  of  many  varieties  and  of  finest  quality  is  grown." 

Orchard  Planting  on  a  Large  /Scale  and  the  Results. — Between  1885 
and  1893  the  planting  of  fruit  trees  on  a  commercial  scale  went  on  in 
all  the  farming  regions  tributary  to  the  towns  along  the  Salinas 
between  San  Ardo  and  Santa  Margarita,  fifty-three  miles.  Oranges, 
lemons,  figs,  olives,  and  other  semi-tropic  fruits  were  often  planted, 
as  well  as  all  the  deciduous  fruits  and  small  fruits  known  to  the  trade. 
Nurserymen  sent  out  agents;  places  called  "yards"  for  the  sale  of 
trees  were  opened  in  the  towns.  One  then  saw  dozens  of  farmers 
coming  in  with  wheat  and  going  out  with  from  50  to  100  trees  apiece. 

Even  in  localities  well  adapted  to  fruits  a  large  proportion  of  the 
trees  sold  by  nurserymen  never  reached  bearing  age,  by  reason  of 
neglect  or  ignorance.  In  new  districts  and  those  where,  as  it  turns 
out,  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  success  are  very  great,  this  percent- 
age of  loss  was  indefinitely  increased.  It  is  the  opinion  of  those  who 
sold  trees  during  the  "boom"  years  in  these  towns  that  more  than  one 
million  trees  of  the  leading  deciduous  fruits  were  sold  and  planted. 
Theoretically,  this  should  have  produced  10,000  acres  of  orchard;  in 
practice  it  has  produced  only  a  few  hundred  acres,  mostly  west  of  the 
Salinas.  East  of  the  river,  as  these  observations  prove,  there  are  only 
a  few  small  and  unprofitable  orchards  remaining  out  of  all  the  planting 
done  through  so  many  years,  and  done  in  not  a  few  cases  by  men  of 
long  practical  experience  in  fruit  growing  in  other  parts  of  California. 
Settlers  came  here  from  Sonoma,  Alameda,  Santa  Clara,  Santa  Cruz, 
Santa  Barbara  and  other  counties,  as  well  as  from  the  coast  valleys  of 
San  Luis  Obispo.  They  were  therefore  able  to  put  average  California 
methods  into  practice  to  some  extent  from  the  beginning,  and  if  the 
region  had  been  fairly  well  adapted  to  the  culture  of  these  fruits,  they 
would  doubtless  have  succeeded.  Their  almost  total  lack  of  success 
with  nearly  all  kinds  of  fruits  planted  can  be  attributed  only  to  soil 
and  climate. 

CONCLUSIONS. 

The  Sub- Station  Records. — In  the  preceding  pages  are  gathered  up 
very  briefly,  if  the  mass  of  material  collected  be  considered,  the  prac- 
tical evidence  on  deciduous  fruit  culture  in  the  region  under  consid- 
eration. The  reader  is  further  referred  to  the  following  articles  in 
the  Reports  of  this  station:  Report  of  1887-8,  published  in  1889,  pp. 
13-16;  Report  of  1888-89,  published  in  1890,  pp.  89-111,  also  in 
appendix,  list  of  fruit  trees  planted  at  the  Southern  Coast  Range 
sub-station;    Report  of  1890,  published  in  1891,  pp.  278-287;    Report 


45 

of  1891-92,  published  in  1893,  pp.  35-46,  150-152,  and  193-202; 
Report  of  1892-4,  published  in  1894,  pp.  379-401,  also  in  appendix, 
list  of  fruits  planted  at  Southern  Coast  Range  Station;  Report 
for  1895-7,  published  in  1898,  pp.  248-253,  also  329-346;  Report 
for  1897-8,  p.  224,  and  pp.  278-292.  This  makes  a  total  of  139 
pages,  besides  the  appendices,  devoted  to  the  records  of  the  sub- 
station, and  this  consists  chiefly  of  notes  on  soil,  climate,  orchard  and 
vineyard  history  and  other  cultures.  The  conclusions  drawn  from 
this  material,  and  from  all  other  station  records,  too  voluminous  to  be 
used  in  full,  have  gone  to  the  writing  of  this  bulletin. 

Sub-Station  Conclusions. — As  regards  the  sub-station  tract  and 
land  similarly  situated  in  respect  to  water,  to  rainfall,  to  frosts,  and 
to  characters  of  soil,  conclusions  are  as  follows: 

Given  as  conditions,  a  total  annual  rainfall  sometimes  as  low  as 
4.75  or  5.58  inches,  a  small  water  supply  wholly  inadequate  for  irri- 
gation, lifted  from  deep  wells;  killing  frosts  in  the  blossoming  season 
and  a  light,  granitic  soil  on  hardpan,  fruit  trees  cannot  be  success- 
fully grown.  Given  a  better  soil  free  from  hardpan,  and  especial 
care  in  culture,  pruning  and  treatment,  and  pears  succeed.  Pear  trees 
and  hardy  American  plums  will  bear  well  in  ordinary  seasons,  that  is, 
in  four  years  out  of  five,  and  by  thorough  cultivation  can  be  carried 
through  dry  years  without  injury.  On  such  soils,  apples  are  likely  to 
bear  three  years  out  of  five,  and  peaches  and  nectarines  will  bear  two 
years  out  of  five.  Persian  mulberries  will  bear  almost,  or  quite, 
every  year.  Grapes  can  be  expected  to  yield  fairly  in  four  years 
out  of  five. 

Neglect  in  culture  or  pruning,  failure  to  destroy  the  borers  or  to 
start  young  trees  very  low,  will  end  in  the  ruin  of  such  an  orchard, 
which  is  a  highly  artificial  and  most  difficult  product.  On  such  land 
the  pear  would  come  nearest  to  actual  profit.  These  discoveries  of  the 
value,  in  very  arid  and  frosty  locations,  of  these  few  fruits,  and  of  the 
uselessness  of  planting  on  such  hardpan,  if  properly  heeded,  should 
save  land-owners  much  loss  hereafter.  So  varied  are  the  farms  east 
of  the  river  that  on  many  farms  a  more  suitable  place  for  an  orchard 
can  be  chosen,  and  the  value  of  the  farm  thus  increased. 

General  Conclusions  about  the  District.  Reviewing  the  entire 
history  of  the  efforts  to  establish  orchards  east  of  the  Salinas,  it  is 
clearly  evident  that  the  most  severe  losses  have  everywhere  occurred 
in  almonds,  cherries,  prunes  and  apricots.  It  is  useless  to  plant  these 
anywhere,  excepting  in  a  few  sheltered  spots,  on  good,  well- watered 
soil;  and,  in  fact,  their  culture  belongs  a  considerable  distance  west 
of  the  river.     Even  four  miles  west   of  Santa  Margarita  (the  Baron 


46 

Von  Schroder  ranch)  240  acres-  of  prunes  have  been  dug  out,  as  the 
crop  was  invariably  destroyed  by  frost.  Measured  by  the  standard 
of  a  commercially  profitable  tree  elsewhere,  not  one  first-class  cherry, 
almond  or  apricot  was  found  east  of  the  Salinas  River  in  1900  or  1901, 
although  the  region  was  searched  with  great  care.  Thus  measured, 
very  few  peaches  or  nectarines,  plums  or  prunes  have  been  found  east 
of  the  river.  Good  apple  trees  were  not  numerous,  but  when  on  suit- 
able soil  they  did  fairly  well,  and  there  is  sufficient  evidence  that 
peaches  can  be  grown  successfully  in  many  locations  and  in  ordinary 
seasons. 

On  rich  soil,  sufficiently  moist,  pears  are  the  safest  fruit  crop  for 
this  entire  district,  as  they  withstand  frosts  well,  and  the  quality  of 
the  pears  is  higher  in  this  hot,  dry  climate  than  that  of  apples.  For 
market,  then,  one  must  depend  at  present  upon  pears,  and  on  lighter 
soils  upon  grapes.  If  peaches  bear,  and  the  trees  are  healthy,  add 
peaches.  For  home  use,  plant  grapes,  pears,  apples,  peaches,  nec- 
tarines, American  and  hardy  plums  and  Persian  mulberries.  Among 
small  fruits,  if  some  irrigation  can  be  practiced,  plant  strawberries 
and  Loganberries,  which  do  very  well.  For  a  few  years  and  in  some 
seasons  Russian  types  of  Morello  cherries  will  bear  quite  well,  but 
the  trees  will  perish  in  a  few  years.  Japanese  plums  blossom  too 
early  in  the  spring  to  be  safe  from  frost;  in  sheltered  locations  they 
are  valuable,  but  should  be  worked  on  peach  roots.  The  very  few 
cases  where  figs,  olives,  apricots  and  walnuts  have  borne  fruit  regu- 
larly east  of  the  river,  are  due  to  local  conditions  that  do  not  exist  to 
any  general  extent. 

The  problem  is  really  reduced  to  very  simple  terms.  As  a  tour  de 
force,  the  sub-station  has  carried  a  young  orchard  on  fairly  good  soil 
through  a  season  of  4.7  inches  of  rainfall  without  loss  or  injury. 
But  such  a  season  would  seriously  hurt  large,  bearing  trees.  The 
early  winter  and  late  spring  frosts  can  be  largely  avoided  by  choice  of 
better  local  conditions  and  by  selecting  the  hardier  fruits.  Poorer 
soils  can  profitably  be  fertilized  for  small  orchards.  But  the  difficulty 
of  a  fluctuating  rainfall,  sometimes  insufficient  for  healthy  tree 
growth,  and  this  in  a  region  of  rolling  hills,  scantily  watered  and  not 
at  present  capable  of  irrigation  excepting  on  small  areas  of  bottom 
lands,  constitutes  the  fundamental  problem.  The  most  hardy  fruits 
may  be  selected,  planted  on  the  strongest  soil,  headed  low,  cultivated 
and  cared  for  with  extreme  skill,  patience  and  labor;  still,  if  the  land 
lacks  moisture  sufficient  to  maintain  these  trees  in  health  during  dry 
years,  what  avails  it  all? 

This  question  has  faced    the    student    at    every  turn  for  thirteen 


47 

years,  in  every  orchard  east  of  the  Salinas,  whether  of  ten  trees  or  ten 
acres,  across  the  Estrella  plains,  along  the  Huerhuero,  on  the  arid 
slopes  east  of  San  Miguel,  Bradley  and  San  Ardo,  where  hard-work- 
ing American  pioneers  are  doing  their  best  to  make  a  living  and  to 
improve  their  homesteads.  These  people  will  do  all  that  American 
communities  can  to  develop  their  region  by  depending  upon  arid-land 
crops,  forage-grasses,  salt-bushes,  thorough  summer-fallow  for  cereals, 
larger  areas  made  pastoral,  and  the  utmost  using  of  irrigation  where 
available.  To  them  in  the  end,  out  of  more  exact  knowledge,  more 
capital,  and  concentration  on  a  fewT  things,  greater  prosperity  will 
come. 

Land-owners  should  root  up  stunted,  unfruitful  trees,  which 
"cumber  the  ground."  If  they  desire  small  orchards  (so  well  worth 
having  when  successful)  they  should  select  location  and  varieties  in 
accordance  with  the  best  experience  herein  given,  and  they  should  at 
first  plant  only  a  few  trees,  unless  conditions  for  obtaining  water  are 
especially  favorable.  They  should  utilize,  in  dry  seasons,  even  the 
smallest  sources  of  water  supply,  and  all  their  orchard  practice  should 
be  of  the  most  approved  thoroughness.  Fruit,  barring  exceptional 
cases  and  exceptional  men,  should  be  only  a  secondary  resource  of 
the  land-owners  in  the  region  east  of  the  Salinas. 

But  the  advice  of  the  station  respecting  fruits,  summed  up  from 
observation  and  experience  of  many  persons  during  a  long  period  of 
years,  is  against  large  or  costly  experiments.  Grapes  can  be  grown 
at  little  expense,  over  a  large  area,  to  fill  local  needs  for  table  and 
wine  uses,  but  not  for  high-class  raisins.  A  few  fruits  can  often  be 
grown  quite  well,  with  care,  on  a  small  scale,  for  family  use;  a  still 
smaller  list  promises  commercial  returns  in  picked  locations.  The 
average  farmer,  busy  with  his  grain-fields  and  pastures,  is  unlikely  to 
give  the  proper  care  and  outlay  to  such  difficult  work  as  this.  There- 
fore, few  more  orchards  will  be  planted  until  several  wet  and  warm 
years  such  as  have  before  occurred  again  rouse  public  interest.  When 
this  happens  the  prudent  land-owner  will  "go  slow,"  remembering 
past  droughts  and  frosts. 

Other  resources  of  the  Region. — Many  prosperous  districts  in 
America  depend  agriculturally  upon  other  things  than  fruit.  The 
resources,  visible  or  latent,  of  the  territory  described  in  this  bulletin 
are  ample  enough  to  justify  permanent  investments.  All  of  the 
"  hardpan"  soil  will  produce  hardy  Eucalypts  and  many  other  valuable 
forest  trees,  also  salt-bushes,  and  other  forage  plants  whose  roots, 
like  those  of  the  native  oaks,  have  the  power  of  penetration.  The 
cereals  also  grow  on  such  soil  with  even  small  rainfall. 


48 

The  location  of  the  sub-station  in  part  upon  this  physical  hardpan, 
has  resulted  in  the  trial  of  a  great  number  of  plants  here,  and  in 
much  evidence  respecting  its  value  as  well  as  its  disadvantages.  The 
winter's  rainfall  passes  through  it,  and  is  in  large  degree  stored  up 
beneath.  Plants  whose  roots  can  penetrate  it  to  any  useful  extent  are 
therefore  invaluable  here,  and  the  list  of  such  plants  is  being  steadily 
increased. 

The  area  of  stronger  soils,  free  from  this  peculiar  hardpan,  is 
large,  and  here  the  range  of  profitable  crops  becomes  correspondingly 
greater.  It  has  not  been  the  province  of  this  bulletin  to  discuss  these 
broader  possibilities  of  the  region,  but  nothing  herein  written  can 
justly  be  taken  as  implying  their  absence.  On  the  contrary,  such 
facts  as  those  given  respecting  orchard  limitations  east  of  the  river 
will,  it  is  hoped,  guide  future  investors  to  more  profitable  crops  than 
fruit,  and  especially  to  a  more  general  use  of  suitable  forage  plants 
and  trees  with  penetrative  roots  upon  neglected  hardpan  soils  of  this 
nature. 

Many  as  yet  but  slightly  developed  fruit  districts  are  scattered 
throughout  the  Santa  Lucia  Mountains  immediately  west  of  the 
territory  under  consideration  in  this  bulletin,  and  from  thence  the 
dwellers  on  hardpan  and  the  more  arid  soils  east  of  the  river  will  eventu- 
ally draw  much  of  their  fruit- supply. 


